NCDC

Hepatitis C

Key facts
• Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis C virus.
• The disease can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong condition that can lead to cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer. Read more

Influenza season begins

Influenza is an acute viral infection that primarily attacks the nose, throat and lungs. Seasonal influenza affects about 5–15% of the population each year. The WHO European Region is entering the start of the influenza season, when people are more likely to become ill.

Influenza travels easily, spreading through the air, usually from coughs and sneezes, but also from people’s hands. People can spread the virus even before they know they have it, from a day before they notice any symptoms until 5–7 days afterwards. Read more

Viral hepatitis, how and why we should defend ourselves

Viral hepatitis is widely prevalent diseases in the world. It is caused by viruses: A,B,C,D,E. Only human being is infected by these infections (anthroponozic disease). They are spread everywhere and cause life-threatening diseases. In compliance with the data provided by World Health Organization (WHO) around 350 million people being infected with B hepatitis and around 170 million people being infected with C hepatitis (general rate of lethality amounts to 0.5%). Read more

10 Facts on Sanitation

An estimated 2.6 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation globally. If the current trend continues, by 2015 there will be 2.7 billion people without access to basic sanitation.

The regions with the lowest coverage are sub-Saharan Africa (31%), southern Asia (36%) and Oceania (53%). Underlying issues that add to the challenge in many countries include a weak infrastructure, an inadequate human resource base and scarce resources to improve the situation. Read more

Cancer - Key Facts

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 7.6 million deaths (around 13% of all deaths) in 2008 (1).
Lung, stomach, liver, colon and breast cancer cause the most cancer deaths each year.
The most frequent types of cancer differ between men and women.
About 30% of cancer deaths are due to the five leading behavioral and dietary risks: high body mass index, low fruit and vegetable intake, lack of physical activity, tobacco use, alcohol use.
Tobacco use is the most important risk factor for cancer causing 22% of global cancer deaths and 71% of global lung cancer deaths.
Cancer causing viral infections such as HBV/HCV and HPV are responsible for up to 20% of cancer deaths in low- and middle-income countries.
About 70% of all cancer deaths in 2008 occurred in low- and middle-income countries.
Deaths from cancer worldwide are projected to continue rising, with an estimated 13.1 million deaths in 2030 (2).

Meningococcal Meningitis