Liver experts to screen 500 in remote Purulia village

By: Samriddha Dutta
KOLKATA: Doctors from the city are at Purulia's Ayodhya Hills to conduct mass hepatitis B and C screening for locals who live in this remote locality that has little access to healthcare and even less awareness about this virus that can prove lethal in the lack of accessibility to proper healthcare.
An initiative by Liver Foundation, West Bengal (LFWB) and Indian Institute of Liver and Digestive Sciences (IILDS), the project took off on Saturday coinciding with the World Hepatitis Day.Around 500-odd locals will be screened during the camp that will continue for three days.
"The campaign does not end here. We will support the treatment for those found positive while the rest will be administered vaccine that will protect them from the virus," said Partha Sarathi Mukherjee, project director LFWB.
Titled 'Reaching the Unreachable', the Foundation aims to contribute towards elimination of the disease by reaching out to those parts of the country and sections of society that are still riddled with superstitions and misconceptions regarding the disease.
"For developing countries like India, it's very necessary that the government frames policies that make such initiatives taken by NGOs like us possible. We want to take science out of the confines of the doctor's chamber to the people who still are in a lot of darkness about liver diseases," said Dr Abhijit Chowdhury, secretary, LFWB.