Hepatitis quietly kills 120,000 Africans: WHO

World hepatitis day

Franca Offili

According to the World Health Organization, hepatitis is undiagnosed and untreated, killing more than 124,000 Africans each year.

Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, Director of the WHO Africa Region, stated this in a message commemorating World Hepatitis Day on July 28th.

This day is set aside by WHO to raise awareness of the disease, a quiet epidemic that hits Africa.

This year’s theme is “I can’t wait for hepatitis.”

Moeti said the disease can inflame the liver and cause liver cancer and cirrhosis.

He called on all countries to quickly improve access to services to prevent, diagnose and treat illness.

Hepatitis is a quiet epidemic in Africa where more than 90 million people live with the disease, accounting for 26 percent of the world’s total.

About 4.5 million African children under the age of 5 have been infected with chronic hepatitis B. This reflects 70% of the global burden of that age group.

Moeti said the global goal of a hepatitis B incidence of less than 1% in children under the age of 5 was achieved, but the African region lags behind by 2.5%.

She said that most such cases can be prevented during or shortly after birth, and in early childhood by eliminating the mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of the disease.

“Major interventions for hepatitis B include birth and early childhood vaccination, screening of pregnant women, and provision of timely treatment,” Moeti said.

She said countries are encouraged to integrate hepatitis B PMTCT into prenatal care packages along with HIV and syphilis PMTCT programs.

In Africa, only 14 countries have hepatitis B birth vaccines.

“Nine out of ten infected people have never been tested because of their limited awareness and limited access to tests and treatments.

“Even among countries that provide hepatitis B birth vaccines, the healthcare system faces the challenge of ensuring that pregnant women and mothers are tested and those who test positive are treated.

“At the same time, there are many promising developments in hepatitis.

“In 2016, the first global strategy for hepatitis was launched, and with the recent increase in advocacy, political will has begun to take action.

“Hepatitis medications are also much more affordable, with a low price of $ 60 per patient after 12 weeks of treatment,” she said.

Moeti said the head of state of Africa promised to address viral hepatitis as a public health threat in the February 2020 Cairo Declaration.

The Egyptian initiative plans to provide hepatitis C treatment to 1 million Africans.

South Sudan, Eritrea and Chad have already reached 50,000.

“Apart from them, Rwanda, Uganda and Benin have established free hepatitis testing and treatment programs, and 16 other countries have started pilot projects in that direction.

“28 African countries are currently implementing strategic plans to guide action against hepatitis, and the WHO Guidelines for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of Hepatitis B at the Global Level were launched in 2020,” Moeti said. Mr. says.

She added that the WHO Africa Regional Office is developing training materials to help countries implement five core hepatitis interventions and decentralize diagnosis and treatment.

Therefore, Moeti called on all stakeholders in maternal and child health to consider ways to integrate hepatitis into existing initiatives.

She said the medical system plays an important role in preventing infection by ensuring that blood donations are screened, syringes are used only once, and then safely disposed of.

She also sought hepatitis testing and treatment to end the silent epidemic and called on individuals to learn more about hepatitis.

Various types of hepatitis:

“Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that can cause severe liver disease and cancer.

“There are five types of viral hepatitis, from A to E.

“They are caused by viruses that are not related to each other,” WHO said.

Pathogens are transmitted through contaminated food in the case of A and E and through blood and sexual contact in the case of B and C.

Hepatitis D affects only people with hepatitis B.

Hepatitis B and C are the most prevalent and are one of the leading causes of cirrhosis and liver cancer.

According to the WHO, an estimated 354 million people worldwide have chronic hepatitis B or C.

Every year, 3 million people are infected and 1.1 million die.

The illness is cured, but there are problems with the diagnosis.

According to WHO estimates in 2019, we knew that only 21% of patients with chronic hepatitis C were infected.

In the case of hepatitis B, only 10% of infected people were aware of their infection.

Related