Habibullah Akhundzada Hamed, deputy minister of health services supply at the Ministry of Public Health, said on Wednesday that cases of jaundice have increased this year in the country.

Akhundzada Hamed said that basic work has not been done to fight jaundice in the country, which can be caused by hepatitis.

“From 2017 to June 2023, 44,647 people were infected with hepatitis B and 21,621 were infected with hepatitis C,” said Akhundzada Hamed.

“For hepatitis B and C patients, PCR examinations have been provided in six provinces including Kabul, Kandahar, Paktia, Herat, Balkh, and Nangarhar,” said Bismillah, head of infectious disease control, Ministry of Public Health.

Statistics show that in 2020, 8,155 people, in 2021, 7,655 people, in 2022, 8,343 people, and so far in 2023, 8,779 people have been infected with a form of jaundice.

 Agha Mohammad Abid Tutakhil said that in the current year, they provided medical services to 282 people with black jaundice.

Abid Tutakhil emphasized that efforts are being made to eradicate the disease in the country, but the lack of a vaccine for black jaundice is a big concern in the country.

“Currently, 95% of people can be treated with antiviral drugs, but until now there is no effective vaccine against this disease or hepatitis C,” said Agha Mohammad Abid Tutakhil, an official of the Public Health Ministry.

“The price of hepatitis B and hepatitis C drugs has decreased by 90%, and now the cost of treating one hepatitis C is only 60 dollars,” said Reza Al-Wadal, a representative of the World Health Organization in Afghanistan.

Based on the information of the Secretary General of the World Health Organization, jaundice kills one million people in the world every year and three million new cases are registered in the world every year.