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Low awareness, screening fuel hepatitis spread

By Tayo Oredola and Stanley Akpunonu
04 August 2016   |   3:52 am
Also Speaking about its prevalent rate in Nigeria was Head of Gastroenterology, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Dr. Charles Onyekwere, who stated that the national prevalence according to Federal Ministry of Health is an average of 11 per cent.
Chief Medical Director of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi Araba, Prof. Chris Bode (left) and the outgoing Director General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) Yaba PHOTO CREDIT: TAYO OREDOLA

Chief Medical Director of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi Araba, Prof. Chris Bode (middle) and the outgoing Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR) Yaba. PHOTO CREDIT: TAYO OREDOLA

Experts have attributed the lack of awareness and screening to the rise in prevalence of viral hepatitis in the country.

Head, Human Virology Laboratory, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Dr. Rosemary Audu, at an outreach for hepatitis screening and symposium organized by the Institute to commemorate the World Hepatitis Day (WHD) in Lagos, she said, owing to the disease’s peculiar symptoms, victims are always in the dark about their status until screening is conducted.

According to her, the viral disease unlike others, does not have specific symptoms, so often time victims would have treated malaria due to wrong assumption.

She advanced that the disease’s highly infectious nature coupled with the low awareness in the country could fuel spread ignorantly.

Audu noted that waiting for symptoms to manifest is not the best option in hepatitis as it only does at the disease’s late stages. “Awareness creation, screening, management of those on treatment are the best ways to reduce transmission,” she added.

Also, to mark the day, Roche products Limited extended their awareness programme to the Bony Camp Military cantonment, Lagos state.

Corps Commandant Medicals of the Nigerian Army, Major General Abimbola Amusu, at the event noted that it is essential to increase awareness of the viral disease because “it is becoming a national problem.”

“And that is why the army has taken a step to enlighten personals and their families on it to avoid the disease’s burden in the sector.”

Amusu maintained that hospital records show “we are having more cases of hepatitis and its related conditions and so measures need to be taken.”

Oluwadare Rotimi, the event facilitator lamented that the disease, left untreated could result to liver cancer and cirrhosis among other complications as “15 to 30 million people live with majorly hepatitis B in the country and about seven million Nigerians die annually as a result.”

Meanwhile, in a brief chat with some of the people who presented at the screening, one Mr. Gbenga said he did not know his status so took up the challenge when his wife informed him about the free screening.

Answering on low turnouts at screening outreaches like such, he explained that more awareness needs to be created for people to know its risk factors then they would turn out to know their status.

Another woman who pleaded anonymity said: “Though I have heard about it before, I don’t know my status and don’t know anything about it, so when I read it in the newspaper that there was a free screening, I came to get tested.”

Onikoyi Oluwabunmi, a health worker on the queue also shared her view saying, health workers are most at risk but “we normally overlook many factors that exposes us to the viral disease. I am on leave so decided to test for it when the opportunity availed it self.”

The WHD is marked annually on July 28 to help create awareness on the rising prevalence and burden created by the disease and this year’s theme was “Elimination.”

Addressing the theme, Audu said, though it is an ambitious one by the World Health Assembly, it is achievable within the set target of 2030 with all hands on deck.

She noted that with the new policy document on the disease launched by the Federal Government, elimination should be a target with increase awareness, screening programmes and training of health workers in all cadre of the sector on proper laboratory practices.

Similarly, Director of Research, NIMR, Dr. Nkiruka Odunukwe, pointed out that Hepatitis B has become a public health issue and needs to be eliminated as the theme states.

Odunukwe who represented the Director General (DG) NIMR, Prof. Innocent Ujah, revealed that NIMR has over 500 infected people receiving treatment at its facility and its evidence of the rising prevalence.

Also Speaking about its prevalent rate in Nigeria was Head of Gastroenterology, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) Dr. Charles Onyekwere, who stated that the national prevalence according to Federal Ministry of Health is an average of 11 per cent.

“This percentage with the nation’s population taken to account tells it all,” he expressed.

Audu urged the public to know their status through screening, as it is the only way to discover. “If a person tests negative, there are potent vaccines and if it is positive, it is appropriate to commence treatment to curb further spread,” she noted.

Viral hepatitis is a liver inflammatory disease that is caused by pathological infections and appears in five different types, thus hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E.

It comes in both acute and chronic forms with B being the most deadly and most prevalent with unprotected sex, unsafe blood transfusion, mother to child transmission, contaminated sharp objects and body fluids like saliva being the major mood of contraction.

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