MUMBAI (TIP): Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan revealed that he has been battling with Hepatitis B, a disease that affects the liver, for the last 20 years. The actor said he is surviving only on 25 per cent of his liver today, having lost the rest 75 percent to the deadly virus.

The actor was at the Hepatitis B Awareness Drive launched by Health and Family Welfare Ministry in association with UNICEF.

The UNICEF Celebrity Ambassador said, “Hepatitis B came to me accidentally. After my accident on the sets of Coolie, I was infused with blood of about 200 donors and 60 bottles of blood were injected into my system. The Australian antigen Hepatitis B had only been detected three months ago and it was very new for being detected also among various tests needed to be carried out before giving blood to another patient. One of my blood donors was carrying Hepatitis B virus which went into my system. I continued to function normally till the year 2000 and almost 18 years after the accident, during a very normal medical checkup, I was told that my liver was infected and I had lost 75 per cent of my liver. So, if I am standing here today, you are looking at a person who is surviving with 25 per cent of liver. That is the bad part. The good part is you can survive even with 12%. But no one wants to get to that stage,” said Amitabh Bachchan.

“It has highlighted to me how a small oversight during growing up years can prove to be detrimental to not only one’s own life but also others”, he said.

The actor further added, “Immunization against Hepatitis B is a very personal issue for me, and I am very happy to associate with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF India. I narrate my story to the Indian population to create awareness about this cause.”

While taking about the healthcare services and the level of Doctors in India, Bachchan said “I went through a medical course and during all my ailments, I relied on medical experts and doctors in my country despite having the means to do go abroad but I had faith in the medical professionals and doctors of India. When we took a second opinion abroad, I found out that whatever diagnosis was commanded to me by Indian doctors was no different from the foreign ones.”