Mr. Alexander Kwamena Afenyo Markin, Deputy Majority Leader, has urged the government to include Hepatitis B treatment on national health insurance, alongside HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.
He revealed that a survey he sponsored in his constituency in 2019 found an 8.5% prevalence rate of Hepatitis B in his municipality, which is a depressing situation.
According to him, due to the disease’s silent nature, only 30.4 million people worldwide, or 10.5% of all people estimated to be living with Hepatitis B, were aware of their infection in 2019, while 6.6 million, or 22% of those diagnosed, were on treatment.
He added that the W.H.O. estimated “296 million people worldwide were living with chronic Hepatitis B in 2019, with 1.5 million infections each year, however, it can be prevented by vaccines that are safe, available and effective”.
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that affects the liver and can cause both acute and chronic diseases, according to the World Health Organization. The virus is most commonly transmitted from mother to child during birth and delivery, as well as through contact with blood or other bodily fluids during sex with an infected partner, unsafe injections, or exposure to sharp instruments”.
He went on to say that most people, particularly pregnant women in rural areas, do not have access to routine prenatal testing. The majority of pregnant women and people who test positive require evaluation for treatment to suppress the virus.
“Very few, if any, are able to access or afford such services due to its high cost and since it is not available on our NHIS. In the Effutu Municipality, there is no access to Hepatitis B viral load testing, which is a key diagnostic factor in the management of the disease:”
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
