Disturbed by the high vulnerability of
Nigerians to Hepatitis infection, the Society for Gastroenterology and
Hepatology in Nigeria, SOGHIN, has called on Federal government to
immediately declare the epidemic as a national public health emergency.
Making the call weekend ahead of the 2013 World Hepatitis Day, marked globally on July 28, SOGHIN President, Professor Olusegun Ojo, lamented the glaring lack of awareness and education about the Hepatitis B virus among Nigerians living with the condition.
"SOGHIN is disturbed that so many Nigerians are vulnerable to the epidemic of Hepatitis infection. That is exactly what it is, or how else can we describe a virus that has affected over 20 million Nigerians and is causing thousands of deaths each year?" He remarked.
Ojo, who raised alarm over the menace of the disorder within the populace, admonished government at the top to prioritize Hepatitis B response by first having an established goal of eliminating the Hepatitis B virus and to proper treatment and prevention initiatives quality.
"The fact that many infections are silent, causing no symptoms until there is irreversible damage to the liver, points to the urgent need for universal access to immunisation, screening, diagnosis, and antiviral therapy particularly from public sponsored treatment programmes which unfortunately do not exist in Nigeria currently."
Hepatitis B is treatable, and effective vaccination remains the best mode of prevention.
Making the call weekend ahead of the 2013 World Hepatitis Day, marked globally on July 28, SOGHIN President, Professor Olusegun Ojo, lamented the glaring lack of awareness and education about the Hepatitis B virus among Nigerians living with the condition.
"SOGHIN is disturbed that so many Nigerians are vulnerable to the epidemic of Hepatitis infection. That is exactly what it is, or how else can we describe a virus that has affected over 20 million Nigerians and is causing thousands of deaths each year?" He remarked.
Ojo, who raised alarm over the menace of the disorder within the populace, admonished government at the top to prioritize Hepatitis B response by first having an established goal of eliminating the Hepatitis B virus and to proper treatment and prevention initiatives quality.
"The fact that many infections are silent, causing no symptoms until there is irreversible damage to the liver, points to the urgent need for universal access to immunisation, screening, diagnosis, and antiviral therapy particularly from public sponsored treatment programmes which unfortunately do not exist in Nigeria currently."
Hepatitis B is treatable, and effective vaccination remains the best mode of prevention.
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