May 06, 2026 09:47 am (IST)
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India observes World Hepatitis Day today
Kolkata, July 28 (IBNS): Hepatitis B is a serious global health problem, responsible for 1.4 million deaths every year compared to 1.5 million deaths from HIV/AIDS and 1.2 million from each of malaria and TB. India along with all the nations across the globe observed World Hepatitis Day on Monday to spread awareness about this menace.
“India has over 40 million Hepatitis B infected patients, second only to China”, said Dr Mahesh Goenka, Director, Apollo Institute of Gastroenterology at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals.
“Many of those who are infected by Hep B & C are not even aware of their infection. He highlighted the fatalities of hepatitis due to ignorance. These set of people are at serious risk of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer which are life threatening” he added.
Dr Goenka also presented a real case of Liver Transplant done on a 20 year old female who was suffering from Acute Liver Failure due to Hepatitis A. The patient underwent a transplant with her mother donating 65 per cent of her own liver to cure her daughter. Both the daughter and mother are now doing fine.
The transplant was conducted by Apollo Liver Transplant Team led by Dr Mahesh Goenka, and Dr Anand K Khakhar.
Srijani Halder was suffering from jaundice for a few days. Her bilirubin count was fluctuating between 5 and 12. However later it shot up to 19. Conservative treatment with intravenous drips, Vitamin K supplements and medicines were not effective in curing her condition. It was a case of acute viral Hepatitis A infection. The situation became worse when she slipped into coma following liver failure and an early liver transplant was the only way of saving her life.
A portion of liver had to be taken from a related donor and was placed in the recipient. Srijani’s mother was eager to be the donor and she donated 65 percent of her liver to save her daughter.
Usually in such cases, the donor has no difficulty in leading a normal life and the liver regenerates to its original size after some time. The surgery was successful. Post operation, Srijani’s bilirubin count is within the normal range of 1. Her mother Babita Halder has also recovered. Both are back home.
Dr Goenka said, "I am very glad that we could successfully perform a liver transplant on Ms. Srijani who was admitted in a critical situation. The fact that a transplant of such criticality could be executed in Kolkata itself within a short period of two days is a matter of pride and joy for us. Many lives are lost in our region due to inability to do liver transplants on time. This is a small but an important step towards saving these patients.”
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