New Delhi, March 22 (IANS): The ‘Illness to Wellness’ initiative, a national campaign aimed at generating awareness on various mind and body conditions and providing holistic and broad stakeholder engagements - with the overall objective of promoting healthy living, in collaboration with the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), has embarked on a mission to spread awareness about prevention and control of mother-to-child transmission of viral hepatitis through its ‘Winning Over Mothers With Hepatitis B’ (WOMB) initiative.

Hepatitis B infects over 40 million people in India and most patients continue to suffer as the society largely remains weighed down by misconceptions related to the disease.

To highlight the state of Hepatitis B patients and the lack of awareness about the disease, ILBS in association with Illness to Wellness organised an awareness session in which they emphasised on how they are working towards allaying the fears, overcoming stigmas, and dispelling myths about the disease.

During the session, Dr. Shiv K Sarin, Director & Chancellor, ILBS, and Dr. Arti Ahuja, Ex-Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India, expressed grave concerns at the discrimination faced by Hepatitis B patients as they spoke about the need to ensure vaccination and importance of information dissemination through persistent efforts to end the shame associated with the disease.

Dr. Ahuja also said that in India, the focus is more on treatment and less on preventive aspects and citizens should focus on staying healthy instead of depending on doctors for treatment at a later stage.

Anil Rajput, Chairperson, ASSOCHAM National CSR Council, said, “The ‘Winning Over Mother’s with Hepatitis with Hepatitis B’ (WOMB) initiative is an extremely important step to raise awareness about the transmission of Hepatitis B from mother to child and eliminate the stigma towards these mothers.

"It helps in bolstering our efforts of creating a world in which most of the diseases could be either eliminated or controlled by preventive healthcare awareness. I have always been of the firm view that when awareness campaigns focus on drawing from the collective synergies, they always deliver on the desired goals in due course of time. I am sure this initiative will achieve its objective of alleviating pain, suffering, and dogmas in the society.”

Launched in December 2022, the WOMB initiative has been spreading awareness about the vertical transmission of Hepatitis B from mother to child, to end the stigma, discrimination, and isolation of these women, along with the creation of a patient network.

The Illness to Wellness and EMPATHY partnership aims to sensitise people about Hepatitis B and C across India and create an enabling environment for the affected individuals.

Through this partnership, they aim to disseminate useful and critical information that plays a key role in the control of Hepatitis B and C, as well as highlight the importance of good health in leading prosperous and fulfilling lives.