A project launched by hepatologists in southern Sardinia aims to identify people affected by hepatitis viruses, including migrants housed in local emergency reception centers (CAS).
The LIVErS project was launched to combat hepatitis infections and is led by hepatologists from the liver unit at the Duilio Casula Polyclinic in Monserrato.
The project includes offering tests for viral hepatitis (HAV, HBV, HCV, HBV-HDV) and HIV to migrants living in CAS centers in southern Sardinia.
'Identifying persons who have the disease is a priority for public health'
"The identification of the population which has been infected by the virus through the screening in the CAS centers becomes a public health priority because it allows curing people who are looking for a better future, a world without wars and who begin a path of social inclusion in a nation that for them is new", said Luchino Chessa, Director of the institute for liver diseases of the Duilio Casula Polyclinic.
Those who test positive are carefully monitored by hepatologists and infectious disease specialists at the Duilio Casula Polyclinic, in collaboration with the Department of Medical Science and Public Health at the University of Cagliari.
"Migrants will be enrolled in a therapeutic program with regular clinical follow-ups to manage the disease and reduce the risk of transmission," Chessa explained.
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In Sardinia, at least 30 thousand persons have HBV or HCV
The project's objectives, he added, are "Also aligned with those set out by the WHO, which intends to reach the eradication of viral diseases such as hepatitis by 2030, considering it as a public health problem".
Based on preliminary screening results, Chessa estimates that "at least 30,000 people in Sardinia are living with HBV (Hepatitis B virus) or HCV (Hepatitis C virus), and a portion of them are unaware of their condition. Currently, over 9,000 patients are receiving treatment for liver diseases at the Duilio Casula Polyclinic, and about half of them are affected by viral hepatitis."
A diagnosis for the infection in persons who are unaware, concluded Chessa, "Allows to avoid complications tied to an advanced hepatic disease and to stop the circulation of the virus, preventing new infections".
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