A medical researcher at the Nigerian
Institute of Medical Research, NIMR, Dr Rosemary Audu, says over 20 million
Nigerians are living with Hepatitis B Virus, HBV.
Audu, who is the Head, Human
Virology Laboratory, of the Institute described Hepatitis B as a silent disease
which could infect people for many years without clear manifestation or
symptoms.
Speaking during a symposium to mark
World Hepatitis Day with the theme: “Hepatitis: Think Again”, she said:”The
viruses which caused hepatitis are known as viral hepatitis and the most common
forms in Nigeria are the B and C variants.
Hepatitis B is, however, more
prevalent than Hepatitis C. “HBV is 100 times more infectious that Human
Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
“The infection has reached
hyper-endemic levels in Nigeria, with the sero-prevalence of hepatitis B virus
estimated to range from 10 per cent to 40 per cent.
Further, she said it means in every 10 Nigerians one and four will test positive for HBV and over 20 million Nigerians are living with the infection.”
Audu advised the public to go for
screening to aid prompt treatment and prevent mortality due to hepatitis.
Director-General, NIMR, Prof Innocent Ujah, said Hepatitis B is one of the most infectious diseases in the world and a major public health problem.
He said as the world’s eighth
biggest killer, viral hepatitis is remarkably neglected. “HBV as a silent
killer in our environment; unfortunately, the people’s knowledge of the virus
is very faint.
“We as a medical research institute
will continue to intensify our research efforts on Hepatitis, especially the
conduct of surveys to establish the burden of Hepatitis in Nigeria.
“We have a
national reference Human Virology Laboratory that provides services to patients
from all parts of the country.
“We also recently commenced a
Hepatitis clinic in the institute with senior consultant physicians to curb
this menace.“We need to create more awareness so that people can go for
screening and know their status before it is too late,”he said.
Ujah called on the Federal
Government to invest more in health research to prevents disease outbreaks and
secure the health of the nation Hepatitis: unknown silent killer disease.
Also, Chairman, Society for
Gastroenterology and Hepatology, SOGHIN, Lagos State chapter, Dr. Charles
Onyekwere remarked that .”This debilitating disease kills more than the dreaded
HIV/AIDS.
But surprisingly, not many people know much about hepatitis. More
than 350 million people are infected globally with hepatitis B and more than
150 million people are infected with hepatitis C.
Onyekwere who spoke at a rally and
hepatitis test session in Lagos, said in “In Nigeria, up to eight per cent of
our population are infected with hepatitis B and up to four percent are
infected with hepatitis C, hence the need to create awareness on the causative
organism of this disease and to let people know about and how to prevent the
disease.
“Let us think about people who do
not know what causes hepatitis and let us think again about what we need to do
to ensure that our people get information on the killer disease,” Onyekwere
added.
Onyekwere said there are two aspects of curbing the disease: “One is the reservoir- people who are infected. You’ve already given me the statistics, with ‘C’ at about three million and ‘B’, close to 18- 20 million".
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