Big B to lead India’s war against Hepatitis B

After making the pulse polio campaign highly successful in India, Indian iconic actor Amitabh Bachchan is set to be the face of the government’s campaign against Hepatitis B, a critical health issue in India.

He was previously associated with UNICEF as a brand ambassador for polio awareness campaigns and played a pivotal role in its eradication from India.

Hapitatis B is especially prevalent in the tribal areas. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) latest report, India has over 40 million patients infected with this disease. Every year, nearly 600,000 patients lose their lives from HBV infection in the Indian subcontinent.

The health ministry has finalised the deal with Big B, and the campaign is set to be launched in April 2015, according to the health ministry reports.

The health ministry has identified 201 districts, in which, nearly 50% children are partially vaccinated or unvaccinated. The ministry aims to target 5% vaccination each year in a bid to speed up immunisation coverage. According to Union health minister J P Nadda, the government plans to achieve its mission by 2020.

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