Mandaluyong launches rights campaign for people with hepatitis B

The city of Mandaluyong on Wednesday launched “B-Positive,” a campaign to promote the rights of people with hepatitis B and to fight discrimination against them.

Hepatitis B is an infectious and potentially life-threatening illness of the liver caused by a virus. According to the World Health Organization, the virus is transmitted through contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person.

Stigma

Citing a report from the Hepatology Society of the Philippines (HSP), the city goverment said that hepatitis B has become “a basis for discrimination, work restriction, and subsequent disqualification from employment.”

“Here in the Philippines, at least 12,000 overseas Filipino workers are denied employment every year, solely because of misconceptions about the risk of hepatitis B transmission, lack of knowledge about the natural history of the disease, and the risk of developing complications while at work,” the city government said, quoting the HSP report.

However, while hepatitis B is contagious, “the spread of the virus can be controlled via early detection,” the city government also said, quoting a separate study from the World Journal of Hepatology (WJH).

According to a 2013 WJH study, the Philippines is considered an "endemic country" for chronic hepatitis—a country in which the disease is present and prevalent.

The WJH study noted that about one out of eight Filipinos is estimated to be suffering from hepatitis B.

Seminars

During the launch, the city government provided free Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAG) testing to the first 400 pre-registered residents determined by the city health office.

The city government also conducted free seminars on preventing and managing hepatitis B and on the Department of Labor and Employment's labor guidelines for people with disabilities, out-of-school youths, and illness-infected individuals.

In a press statement, the city government said it will conduct more free seminars.

“Our role is to remove people who have contracted the disease from a state of hopelessness,” said Mandaluyong City councilor Charisse Abalos. “We want people to see hepatitis differently and act on it with a positive mindset.” — Elizabeth Marcelo/BM, GMA News