28/07/2015: Tibet Charity observed World Hepatitis Day on 28th July 2015 along with the international community world over.

This is the fourth time we have observed the occasion.

To mark the day, free hepatitis B screening was done for the public.

126 people came for screening out of which 13 people were confirmed to be positive. Of the 13, 11 were already aware of their illness while 2 learnt about their situation on the day.

Like every year, those who were tested negative were advised to go for vaccinations at the earliest. Those who were tested positive for the first time were advised, in full confidentiality, to go for further tests to confirm their status.

We have taken up this initiative regularly as Hepatitis B is one of the major causes of death amongst the Tibetans.

Many inherit hepatitis-B at birth and because of lack of awareness and lack of proper medication, many die untimely deaths. Another common cause could be use of common shaving blades.

Our intention was never to scare the people but to create awareness among the public regarding the disease so that we can reduce the deaths caused by it.

Starting from the 28th of July, the health section staff of Tibet Charity will organize camps in all the monastic institutions and schools in and around Dharamsala during the next 8 days.

We are very grateful to Bristols-Myers Squibb India Private Limited for kindly providing us the testing kits free of cost and for deputing their disease advisor  Ms Anita Sharma to conduct the tests. They have also kindly agreed to give more than 65% discounts if anyone opts to go for the whole course of vaccinations after testing negative. But the decision whether and where to go for vaccinations and further tests were left entirely to the patients. They have also been providing 50% discounts to those on regular medication for many years, if recommended by Tibet Charity.

We also thank Tibet Charity Denmark, Save Tibet Austria and Graines d’Avenir, France for supporting us in our endeavor.