Mumbai: Megastar Amitabh Bachhan today made a big revelation by stating that he is a victim of hepatitis B, a chronic liver disease, for the last 20 years.
The ‘Piku' star will be seen making this declaration in an awareness advertisement on hepatitis B made by the Health Ministry and UNICEF.
“I am a patient of hepatitis B, I am suffering from it since last 20 years. A little part of blood which was given to me after the Coolie accident was affected from hepatitis. As a result, only one fourth of my liver could be saved. However, now I am fit and fine and request all the parents to get their children vaccinated from the disease,” said Amitabh in the advertisement.
Taking a cue from the success of the pulse polio campaign, the government roped in Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador for its campaign against hepatitis B, a critical public health problem facing India, in March this year.
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According to latest World Health Organization (WHO) data, hepatitis B is responsible for 1.4 million deaths every year globally, as compared to 1.5 million deaths from HIV/AIDS and 1.2 million each from malaria and tubercluosis.
India has over 40 million hepatitis B infected patients (second only to China) and constitutes about 15% of the entire pool of hepatitis B in the world. Every year, nearly 600,000 patients die from HBV infection in the Indian subcontinent.
Prevalence of hepatitis B is high in tribal areas in India. Chronic Hepatitis B infection accounts for about 30% of liver cirrhosis and 40-50% of liver cancers in India.
The government's campaign with Bachchan as ambassador and UNICEF as partner is an attempt to address these social issues and motivate parents to come out for immunization.
