The number of people infected with Hepatitis C virus in the country reach 1.5 percent, local daily reported quoting MoH sources.

Chairperson of Thunayan Al Ghanim Gastroenterology Center and Chairman of Kuwait’s Third Conference on Digestive System and Liver Diseases Dr Haifa Askar announced this on the sideline of kickoff activities for the conference recently, adding that the rate of Hepatitis B cases in Kuwait has reached 4.8 percent.

She said the two-day conference focuses on the latest developments in the field of digestive system and liver diseases, treatment and getting experience for those who are working in the field. She highlighted that the conference has seen participation of top consultants on digestive system and liver diseases from different countries such as the United States of America, United Kingdom, Italy, India, Egypt and doctors from the College of Medicine at Kuwait University.

She disclosed among the topics in the conference are new treatments for Hepatitis C virus. She said Dr Fouad Al- Ali, a digestive system and liver diseases consultant, will present the preliminary results of treatments given to some of the 78 Hepatitis C patients in the country. She added the conference will also tackle new treatments for Hepatitis B virus, liver and chrohn’s diseases.

On liver implant, she said the center evaluates and follows up patients before and after surgery; confirming there are specialized clinics in hospitals and health centers for this purpose. She added the number of liver implant cases in Kuwait has reached 200.