Help the workers know their HB status to avoid future disasters

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Dr. Nafisah Alhbadan, a doctor at Health Essentials Ghana, urged organizations to take a close interest in the status of their staff for hepatitis B; not doing so could be catastrophic in the future.

According to Dr. Alhbadan, people are encouraged to know their hepatitis B status, so it's important that their employers help those who do not, because [employers] could become the biggest losers in a disaster.

The medical officer was speaking on Friday, April 12, when about 300 employees of Zoom Domestic Services Limited – a home waste collection service provider – and Rural Waste Limited, two subsidiaries of Zoomlion Ghana, organized the screening of nearly 300 people. hepatitis B in Accra.

Dr. Nafisah Alhbadan

She said that more than 500 million people around the world were living with the disease and that one in 14 people was a positive, hence the need for such an exercise by each organization involved.

She added that people who know their status are able to manage their lives properly and become effective in the workplace.

Essence of screening

Doris Adjei, Director of Human Capital at Zoom Domestic Services, said the type of work done by the company's staff was exposing them to all kinds of diseases and it was therefore strategic to carry out this exercise.

"You know that it's prudent not to play with the life and well-being of employees." That's what basically informed management's decision to organize the control program. "

She added that the exercise would also result in a reduction in the company's medical costs as well as incidents of staff absenteeism due to health issues.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that affects the liver. It can cause acute and chronic infections. Many people have no symptoms during the initial infection.

Some develop a disease that is quickly manifested by vomiting, yellowish skin, fatigue, dark urine and abdominal pain. Often, these symptoms last a few weeks and the initial infection rarely leads to death. It can take 30 to 180 days for the symptoms to appear.

In those who are infected at birth, 90% develop chronic hepatitis B, while less than 10% of those infected after the age of five do so. Most people with chronic diseases have no symptoms; However, cirrhosis and liver cancer may eventually develop.

These complications kill 15 to 25% of people with chronic diseases.

The virus is transmitted by exposure to blood or infectious body fluids.

Infection at the time of birth or by contact with the blood of other people during childhood is the most common method of acquiring hepatitis B in areas where the disease is common.