ABUJA (SUNDIATA POST)- Stakeholders have reiterated the need to emphasise prevention of Hepatitis as the best way to reduce the burden of the disease in Nigeria.
They made the call on Monday in Abuja, at a media conference to commemorate the 2024 world Hepatitis Day marked on July 28 every year.
The 2024 theme is “It’s Time for Action” which reinforces the importance of accelerating action on better prevention, diagnosis and treatment to save lives and improve outcomes.
Prof. Ali Pate, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, said that preventing vertical transmission of Hepatitis B was a key priority and to reach hepatitis elimination targets, certain strategies have to be employed.
Pate was represented by the National Coordinator, National HIV/AIDS Viral Hepatitis and STIs Control Programme (NASCP), Dr Adebobola Bashorun.
He said that the strategies include provision of national support for pregnant mothers living with viral hepatitis, to eliminate mother-to-child transmission.
“Ensuring timely access to the Hepatitis B birth dose vaccine for newborns and expanding access to care through capacity building for primary and secondary facilities on the public health approach to managing viral hepatitis B and C infections.”
Pate also said that Nigeria would be exploring innovative models to achieve the triple elimination of vertical transmission of HIV, Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and syphilis.
On reducing the cost of hepatitis treatment, he said that efforts were on to strengthen local production and supply chain management.
“Nigeria is unlocking the healthcare value chain with a focus on local manufacturing of viral hepatitis testing and treatment commodities to ensure affordability.
“An executive order was signed by the president, where there will be zero custom duties, zero tax on everything you bring into the country for two years.
“This is to promote the production of the items we need in the country for the drugs, the test kits or the consumables.
“All this fall under the presidential intervention for the local production in Nigeria and we already have a national coordinator who is in charge of unlocking the value chain.
“Based on the bill and the trajectory, we are sure that this country will have enough to even export between now and the next two years.”
The Country Representative, World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Walter Mulombo, said that an estimated 254 million people are living with hepatitis B, while 50 million people are living with hepatitis C worldwide.
Represented by the Deputy Country Representative, Dr Alexander Chimbaru, he said that another 6,000 people are newly infected with viral hepatitis each day.
“Nigeria is one of the 10 countries which account for nearly two thirds of the global burden of viral hepatitis B and C.
“In 2022, Nigeria has approximately 14.4 million hepatitis B and 1.3 million hepatitis C infections.”
He, however, advocated for scaling up prevention and treatment in 10 high burden countries by 2026 together with special focus on the African Region.
This, he said, would enable the global response to regain the trajectory needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Retired Gen. Yakubu Gowon, who is also the National Goodwill Ambassador on the Control/Elimination of Viral Hepatitis in Nigeria, said that viral hepatitis remained a major public health challenge in Nigeria.
Represented by Mr Adeyeye Ajayi, he described it as a silent killer that was often unnoticed until it had caused severe liver damage or even death.
According to him, though some progress has been made in the fight against the deadly disease, much more needs to be done.
“Today, I stand before you to reaffirm our commitment to taking decisive action to eliminate viral hepatitis in Nigeria by the year 2030.
“This is an ambitious target, but it is achievable if we work together with determination and a sense of urgency.
“We must increase awareness about viral hepatitis. Many people are unaware of the risks, the modes of transmission, and the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.
“We need to educate our communities, dispel myths and misconceptions, and promote the availability of testing and vaccination services,” he said.
He also said that healthcare infrastructure to provide comprehensive services for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of viral hepatitis.
Ajayi also said that vaccination was the most powerful tool in the fight against hepatitis B, and efforts must be made to achieve universal coverage for all newborns and high-risk groups.
Dr Julius Ibecheole of the Civil Society Network on Hepatitis, Nigeria, commended the efforts put in place by the government and other partners to reduce the burden of the disease in Nigeria.
“However, we want to see alignment with the new WHO treatment guideline and strategic plan that will open up the space to have more people on treatment.
“This cannot be except the ministry takes the direct action to ensure that we develop a core treatment programme that will see so many of our members come on board for treatment because the cost of treatment is still high.
“We want to see the ministry support the process that will bring in in-country production of drugs that will help to reduce costs,” he said. (NAN)
