26 million Nigerians are infected with hepatitis virus- Federal of Ministry of Health alleges
By Ene Ikpa
Federal Ministry of Health has warned that Nigerians should access health services early in order to know their hepatitis status as no fewer than 26 millions Nigerians are currently inflected with the virus unknowingly.
Worried by the increasing rate of people with hepatitis, the federal government has put in place diverse policy documents and guidelines including a five-year strategic plan and a national directive on facility covering viral hepatitis services.
This was the submission of the representative of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Mrs. Evelyn Ngige at the commemoration of the World Hepatitis Day, themed “Invest in eliminating hepatitis,” held on July 30th, in Abuja,
Dr. Ngige noted that the Hepatitis B and C virus often occurred without any symptoms, which signified that millions of Nigerians are silently infected without their knowledge.
She said: “Gruesomely, about 22 million Nigerians are infected by the Hepatitis B and about four million by Hepatitis C translating to 11.11% prevalent and 2.2 % prevalent respectively.
“The report from the Nigeria AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey (NAIIS) for Hepatitis B the prevalence is 16.7 shows that is on the increase. Nigerians should access health services early to know their hepatitis status.”
Furthermore, she reiterated that some of the risk factors of transmission of Hepatitis B and C included transmission of infected blood, sexually transmitted infection, using unsterilized instruments, and injecting drug use.
Dr Ngige said: “Nigeria has risen to the challenge and has invested in a number of interventions with support from various stakeholders. Hepatitis B vaccine is now incorporated in the national program on immunization schedule for infants.
“The government has put in place diverse policy documents and guidelines including a five year strategic plan and a national directive on facility covering viral hepatitis services.
“The National Hepatitis program is working closely with civil societies under their national umbrella within communities to create awareness about the infection among the populace. I am calling on private sectors to join hands with government to tackle the menace.”
However, she recalled that World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Hepatitis Report for 2017 confirmed that 292 million people were infected with Hepatitis B, and 71 million infected with Hepatitis C virus globally.
“With an estimated 1.7 million in children under the age of five years have Hepatitis B globally despite the potent use of vaccine to fight the disease.
“According to the WHO in 2015, about 55% of newly found cancer cases were caused by Hepatitis B or C globally with a death record of 1.34 million deaths caused by tuberculosis and higher than deaths caused by HIV AIDS. While deaths from tuberculosis and HIV AIDS is on the decline, that of viral Hepatitis is on the increase,” she concluded.
