Hepatitis C Concerns

Statistics from the National Health Commission showed that China is home to 10 million people infected with hepatitis C, and 200,000 carriers are diagnosed each year – the majority living in rural areas. Many have no access to proper treatment because of inadequate medical care at the grass-roots level and poor disease control capabilities. For the past decade, Dashuidong Village in Fuqiushan County, Hunan Province has been plagued by the highly contagious hepatitis C virus. The source remains unknown. In May, two medical workers at a hospital in Dongtai, Jiangsu Province were fired after 69 patients were infected with hepatitis C. A similar incident occurred in 2016 at a hospital in Shaanxi Province when 26 patients contracted hepatitis C due to malpractice. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus that is most commonly spread through exposure to tainted blood. Medical experts argued that hospitals must work to better ensure sterile injections, strictly check donated blood and tighten management of health personnel.