Taraba ranked highest in hepatitis prevalence

Like the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Taraba State has again been rated the highest in the country in the prevalence of both hepatitis B and C.While the national prevalence rate of both hepatitis B and C has remained at 12 percent and 2.2 percent, that of Taraba, according to Danjuma K. Adda, Executive Board Member, World Hepatitis Alliance, Africa Region, has risen to 25 percent and 15 percent respectively, making it the highest infected state in the country.

Adda, who made this known yesterday in Jalingo, Taraba State, while marking the World Hepatitis Day, also noted that 95 percent of “people infected are unaware” and that “less than 1 percent of infected persons have access to treatment.”

Poor access to prevention, drugs and medicines across the country, as well as poor access to diagnosis, he said, are some of the factors accelerating the growth of the epidemic in Nigeria.

Noting that Nigeria was signatory to the Global Health Section on Viral Hepatitis on elimination, as a target by 2030, he expressed dismay at the way and manner the disease is being handled.

Adda, who also doubles as the Executive Director CHAGRO-CARE TRUST, explained that one out of every three people in the world is infected with hepatitis B, while one in 12 lives with chronic HBV or HCV infection and that most people infected with these viruses are unaware of their infection.

Such persons, he said, “faced the possibility of developing debilitating or fatal liver disease at some point in their lives and unknowingly transmitting the infection to others.”