Every year on July 28, World Hepatitis Day is observed in honour of the birth anniversary of Baruch Blumberg. He discovered the Hepatitis B virus and even won a Nobel Prize for the same. This year, the theme for the day is ‘Hepatitis Can’t Wait’, indicating that people living with hepatitis cannot wait for testing and treatment. Experts believe even the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic should not be taking the focus off the condition as one person dies every 30 seconds from related illnesses, as per data available on the World Health Organization website. 

In order to understand the condition and the precautions that can be taken to prevent it, Mid-day.com spoke to Dr. Samir Shah, head of department for hepatology at Global Hospitals in Parel. Shah is also the founder trustee and general secretary of the National Liver Foundation based in Mumbai.