INVEST IN HEPATITIS VACCINATION — MEDICAL EXPERTS ADVICE GOVT

REPORTER: ONYINYE CHIJIOBI

A medical expert, Dr. Obioma Clifford Nweke wants government at all levels to invest in Hepatitis B vaccination for all newborns and integrate hepatitis interventions as part of health system strengthening.

Dr. Nweke made the call in Nnewi while speaking on the dangers of hepatitis.

Dr. Nweke explaines that the day is observed to create awareness about the various forms of hepatitis and how they get transmitted as well as aims at improving the management, detection, and prevention of viral hepatitis and other related diseases.

According to Dr. Nweke, this year’s theme for World Hepatitis Day, which is “Bringing hepatitis care closer to you,” focuses on raising awareness of the need to make hepatitis care more accessible and advocates to build a collective global hepatitis action plan.

The medical expert noted that despite the availability of diagnostic tools and effective treatment, less than one in 10 of the 71 million people with Hepatitis B or C in Africa had access to testing and more than 200,000 died yearly due to complications like end-stage liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

For Venerable Obiora Nwosu, government needs to scale up its sensitization to the need for Nigerians to check their hepatitis status.

Venerable Nwosu lamented that government had not done enough to boost the health sector in the country.

For Mr. Chinaza Mandela,
women and children health needs should be a top priority if government are to achieve hepatitis elimination by 2030.

He described Hepatitis B as a major public health threat requiring collective efforts to advance universal vaccination of new-borns and prevent mother-to-child transmission.

Mr. Mandela lamented that despite having a vaccine and effective treatment for hepatitis B and a cure for hepatitis C, few countries in the world were on track to achieve the WHO target of eliminating viral hepatitis by 2030.

The respondents however called on state and federal governments to show more commitment to hepatitis vaccination to achieve WHO goals.

World Hepatitis Day is annually commemorated on July 28 to create awareness among people about the viral disease.

The hepatitis virus has five primary strains, known as types A, B, C, D and E.

They all cause liver disease, but there are key differences between them in terms of origin, transmission and severity.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 354 million people across the world are living with hepatitis B and C.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU