SRINAGAR: World Hepatitis Day was today celebrated in various health Institutions across Jammu and Kashmir.

Pertinently, the World Hepatitis Day is being observed annually on July 28th, a global health day focused on raising awareness about viral hepatitis, which is a serious inflammation of the liver.

This year's theme "Hepatitis: Let's Break It Down," emphasised the need to eliminate the barriers to testing, treatment and prevention. The day serves as a call to action for countries to expand access to testing and treatment and prioritize vaccination, safe injection practices and community engagement to combat this preventable disease.

The medical fraternity has been advised to tackle this grave public health challenge of such huge magnitude with utmost dedication. They have been emphasised for generating mass awareness among the high risk categories like blood/organ donors/recipients, patients on haemodialysis, pregnant women, prisoners, Induced Drug Users (IDUs) and others.

Under the National Health Mission, J&K, 135 camps were organised and 103 rallies conducted across the UT of Jammu & Kashmir on the eve of "World Hepatitis Day -2025". Nearly, 14578 individuals including High Risk Groups and other target groups viz-a-viz pregnant women, patients on haemodialysis and blood donors had been screened for Hepatitis-B & C.

Further, it is pertinent to mention that on the eve of "World Hepatitis Day -2025" Hepatitis-B vaccination was administered to various healthcare workers across the UT for prevention of Hepatitis- B infection and its associated complications among all the healthcare Workers.

Besides, screening camps were organised by the National Health Mission, J&K, in collaboration with Directorate of Health Services, Jammu/Kashmir across various blocks and districts of the UT. These screening camps were inaugurated by the respective District Development Commissioners, Director Health Services, Jammu/Kashmir and Project Director JKSACS, J&K.