Minister Challenges Stakeholders On Fight Against Hepatitis
BY COBHAM NSA, ABUJA – Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole has challenged stakeholders in the health sector to up their game on awareness creation and enlightenment on the dangers of viral hepatitis in the country.
He warned that the disease has become a silent killer because the desired attention is not given to the grave dangers posed by the disease to human health.
Speaking at a media conference marking the World Hepatitis Day in Abuja on Thursday, Prof Isaac Adewole said the enlightenment campaign against the disease must be improved on and specially aimed at building momentum for effective implementation of the National Strategic Plan to control the disease.
The Minister, who announced the theme for this year’s celebration as; “Eliminate Hepatitis”, stated that hepatitis condition could be self-limiting or progress to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer and listed the five main types of hepatitis viruses as, hepatitis A, B, C, D and E.
He said types B and C hepatitis, which usually lead to chronic disease in millions of people, are the most common cause of liver cirrhosis and cancer, adding that, “what is particularly important is that the liver is the engine room of the body.
According to him, “When the engine room of the factory is faulty, the entire system will not be able to work, and hepatitis affects the liver.”
Giving insight on the causes of the disease, Prof Adewole said, “It is transmitted through contaminated water, so, we can stay away from contacting the disease by disposing faeces from the body carefully, by drinking clean and safe water, and by avoiding contact with contaminated blood and body fluid.
“Two are particularly dangerous, that is hepatitis B and C. They not only cause problem for the liver, they lead to chronic liver problem where people develop abdominal swelling.”
Explaining further, the Minister said, “In some, it results in liver cancer. This is why it is important for us to tackle hepatitis with seriousness, noting thus: “the good thing about hepatitis is that it is also preventable, that is why we need to create awareness among our people; we need to let them know.”
He further explained that most people contract the disease through faecal-oral transmission, particularly A and E that are rampant in some parts of Borno State.
