 Hi, greetings friends. My name is Dr. Vidya Sagar. I'm a consultant gastroenterologist at Columbia Asia Hospital, Yashampur, a unit of Manipal hospitals. And this is my colleague Dr. Girish, a consultant gastroenterologist and hepatologist at Columbia Asia Referral Hospital, Yashampur, a unit of Manipal Hospital. Today, on the occasion of World Hepatitis Day, we would like to embark on a patient education and information sharing program, which we are going to talk about today. On this occasion, we would like to share some information about hepatitis B, which is a global burden and between Dr. Girish and myself, we will be discussing about hepatitis B today. Welcome Dr. Girish. As we discussed, hepatitis B is a challenge and a big problem throughout the world. Can you enlighten our viewers about what is the disease burden that we see throughout the world and in India? Chronic hepatitis B, which is a global burden, about 240 million cases are present all over the world. In about around 40 million cases from India, each year, about six to seven lakhs of patients die due to hepatitis B all over the world. Around 1 to 1.5 lakhs of patients die in India due to hepatitis B virus infection. The prevalence is about 2 to 4 percent in India. So dear friends, as Dr. Girish highlighted, hepatitis B is a big problem throughout the world and in India as well. So hepatitis B is a virus that is mainly transmitted through blood, mainly infected blood and body fluids. The variety of modes of transmission. It can cause illnesses pertaining to the liver, mainly in the form of inflammation of the liver called as hepatitis, scarring of the liver called as cirrhosis, which can sometimes be potentially fatal and can also cause hepatocellular cancer or the liver cancer. Hepatitis B, when affects a human being, usually runs an asymptomatic course or sometimes an acute illness, which is like a flu-like illness with fever, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, maybe some diarrhea and can also cause jaundice. Usually, in the acute phase, does not require any treatment and settles on it all. However, when this illness lasts for more than six months.