Nigeria and other member states in the area have been urged by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to step up efforts to eradicate viral hepatitis.continue reading
Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, issued the call in a statement on Sunday to commemorate this year’s World Hepatitis Day. ‘One Life, One Liver’ is the motto for this year’s World Hepatitis Day.
As part of broader liver health and primary healthcare, she stated, “I encourage policymakers and partners to demonstrate political commitment to sustain and simplify hepatitis testing, prevention, and treatment to achieve viral hepatitis elimination.”
She urged communities to use all available health services for hepatitis vaccine, testing, treatment, and curative services.
She stated that more than 91 million people in Africa have hepatitis, and that 125,000 hepatitis-related deaths and an estimated 1.2 million new hepatitis infections were reported across the continent in 2019.
The Framework for an Integrated Multisectoral Response to TB, HIV, STIs, and Hepatitis in the WHO African area, according to Dr. Moeti, aims to cut new hepatitis infections by 90% and deaths by 65% by 2030. Both initiatives have the support of all WHO member states.
By providing clear instructions for decentralised and straightforward person-centered prevention, testing, and treatment of viral hepatitis, including eliminating hepatitis B through birth dose vaccination (the day of birth or the day after), she claimed that WHO supports regional and national efforts to eradicate viral hepatitis by 2030.
To decrease hepatitis-related fatalities and infections, much work remains to be done. Less than 10% of the population has access to testing and treatment, and more than 90% of patients with hepatitis in Africa do not receive the care they require despite the availability of diagnostic technologies and efficient treatments, she said.
According to the WHO regional representative, this has resulted in progressive severe liver disease, a crippling financial burden, mental misery, and stigma. She also noted that testing and treatment, as a public health approach, have been the most neglected part of the response.
She bemoaned the region’s coverage rate for the routine Hepatitis B vaccination of children, which was only 72%, far below the global objective of 90%. To achieve the 90% worldwide target for hepatitis B immunisation coverage, she urged member states to increase their hepatitis B immunisation rates.
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