By Nneka Nwogwugwu
As the world marks the 2022 awareness of World Hepatitis Day, Danjuma Adda, president of World Hepatitis Alliance has decried that only one in ten people know their hepatitis status.
Adda said this while narrating how he contacted hepatitis and losing his mother to hepatitis.
He said in a statement received by NatureNews on Friday, “I am living with hepatitis B and I lost my mother to hepatitis C. She was diagnosed too late. If my mother had been diagnosed sooner, my mother would probably be alive today.
I became a hepatitis advocate as I didn’t want others to suffer the same pain I had at losing my mother. I realised that, as a community, we need to raise awareness of this life-threatening disease. We needed to change the narrative about hepatitis.”
The WHA President who urged for increased awareness of hepatitis in the world noted that globally more than 350 million people are still living with viral hepatitis, adding that only one in ten people with hepatitis know they have it and even fewer receive treatment.
He lamented that stigma and discrimination continue to be a barrier to testing and care of hepatitis patients.
He said, “ The gains made to eliminate hepatitis have been uneven across the world, with those most impacted often the least likely to benefit.
“Most countries have failed to meet their Global Health Sector Strategy 2020 targets. Few babies have access to the hepatitis B birth dose vaccine in many low- and middle-income countries, with less than 10% in Africa receiving a timely vaccine. This vaccine costs just 20 cents. It would save the lives of millions of Africans.
“Liver cancer related to hepatitis is on the rise around the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries. One of us dies every 30 seconds from a hepatitis related illness. We cannot wait any longer for action.
“Governments and global funders are turning a blind eye to the 1.1 million deaths each year and the continued impacts on communities across the world. We will no longer accept their excuses.”
Speaking on the theme of the Day, he said “It takes courage to speak out, but this World Hepatitis Day we come together globally to say “I can’t wait” for an end to hepatitis and urge policy makers, global funders, and decision makers to act.
“People unaware that they’re living with viral hepatitis can’t wait for testing, people living with hepatitis can’t wait for life saving treatments, expectant mothers can’t wait for hepatitis screening and treatment and newborn babies can’t wait for birth dose vaccination.”
Also speaking to a medical practitioner in Port Harcourt, Dr. Chika Nwogwugwu, he blamed the Nigerian government for poor awareness of hepatitis.
He said, “The Nigerian government has failed woefully in its battle against hepatitis because of its weak and failing health sector which has proven to be very lame and ineffective in identifying At-risk patients .
“Nigeria is a third world country and as such hepatitis is very common in our environment and every Nigerian is susceptible to it. Hepatitis can be asymptomatic and as such identifying who is at risk and encouraging screening is very much critical in reducing the risk of hepatitis Infection.
“Hepatitis is dubbed a silent epidemic since millions of Nigerians live with it without knowing. It is very important that the Nigerian government invests heavily on health as this will help hepatitis screening and vaccinations across the country which can be achieved by spreading information via social media, posters, and health education.”
He further urged for safe and effective vaccination of hepatitis A and B for babies and adults, adding that since Hepatitis C does not have a vaccine yet, people should reduce risk factors by not sharing any drug-injecting equipment with other people – including needles and other equipment, such as syringes, spoons and filters.
He added that people should no longer rely on the government but provide themselves with educational resources on hepatitis.
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