Bijnor: More than 4,500 people have tested positive for Hepatitis C in Bijnor district this year, more than double the nearly 2,000 cases reported in 2025, health department data shows.
Nearly 16 patients report to govt treatment centres each day, most of them from rural areas. The district has tested about 55,000 samples so far. Of the patients registered this year, nearly 4,000 have completed treatment, while about 500 are still receiving it, according to health department data.
Dr Rajesh Kumar Dabare, a senior physician at the district hospital, said increased testing could partly explain the rise in reported cases.
“Patients are being treated, and awareness programmes are held for patients, their attendants and the general public,” he said. It can spread through unsafe blood transfusions, poorly sterilised surgical equipment and the reuse of syringes by unqualified medical practitioners, also known as quacks, Dr Kumar said. Hepatitis C is a viral infection that spreads through contact with infected blood and mainly affects the liver. Unprotected sex can also transmit the virus. The district has three treatment centres, at the govt medical college and in Nehtaur and Dhampur, which offer free tests and medicines.