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The World Health Organization (WHO) has deplored the slow progress in the fight against viral hepatitis B in Africa.
The African region of the UN agency, in a press release released Friday, said that only three countries – Uganda, Rwanda and Cape Verde – – out of 47 countries in the region are in the process of eliminating the disease.
This is the first time that the WHO African region has examined the prevalence of hepatitis and its responses in its Member States.
According to the new scoreboard, the death of viral hepatitis in Africa becomes a more serious threat than that of AIDS, malaria or tuberculosis.
It is said that the disease affects one in 15 people in the African region of WHO.
WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said that the badysis was the first to follow every country in the region and to badess the progress made in the goal of save the lives of more than two million Africans likely to develop hepatitis B or C hepatitis in the next decade if countries fail in their efforts.
The scorecard will be presented at the first African Summit on Hepatitis to be held in Kampala, Uganda, from 18 to 20 June.
The scorecard provides essential information on the state of the regional response to hepatitis, measuring progress against the Framework for Action for the Prevention, Treatment and Treatment of HIV / AIDS. Viral hepatitis in the African region (2016-2020).
"It was created to guide Member States in implementing the global health sector strategy against viral hepatitis, which advocates the elimination of hepatitis from here. 2030 (defined as a 90% reduction in new cases and 65% of deaths), "That said.
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue, usually caused by a virus.
There are five groups of hepatitis A, B, C, D and E. However, the virus hepatitis with main concerns are B and C.
Viral hepatitis B and C affect 325 million people worldwide.
Diseases are also at the origin of liver cancer, resulting in 1.34 million deaths worldwide each year.
The disease is considered a silent killer because, although some people do not show symptoms, others develop a yellow discoloration of the skin and a whiteness of the eyes, a lack of appetite, vomiting, fatigue, abdominal pain or diarrhea.
Hepatitis viruses are the most common cause of these diseases. It can also be caused by excessive consumption of alcohol, certain medications, infections and autoimmune diseases, among others.
OMS Dashboard
The badysis of the International Health Agency shows that 28 countries have developed a national strategic plan to fight hepatitis for viral hepatitis; however, most are still in draft form and only 13 are officially published and disseminated.
Nigeria is one of 13 countries to have officially published and disseminated these plans.
Ms. Moeti said WHO was a major partner in the regional response to policy development and provision of technical and financial support, as well as capacity building for a regional response. coordinate.
"Every year, more than 200,000 people in Africa die from hepatitis B and hepatitis C-related liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
"Sixty million people in the WHO African Region were living with chronic hepatitis B infection in 2015. More than 4.8 million of them are children under five years old. . Another ten million people are infected with hepatitis C, probably because of unsafe injections in health centers or by communities. "
The situation of Nigeria
In Nigeria, there are no official statistics on the total number of people affected by hepatitis B and C.
However, the WHO said Nigeria had a high burden of viral hepatitis B and C with prevalence rates of 11.2% and 2.0% respectively.
One of the main causes of the spread of the disease in Nigeria is due to lack of knowledge about the disease, poor health behavior, most Nigerians not performing medical checks, giving birth to babies at home and circumcising with bare hands, among others.
Hepatitis is a transmittable disease, but can be prevented by vaccination. In Nigeria, the vaccine has been included in the immunization schedule for children. (National Immunization Program (NPI)) since 2004.
Unfortunately, most children still do not benefit from vaccination because of low immunization coverage. Most adults also do not know that they can be vaccinated. In cases where adults are aware, the cost of vaccination is high, which discourages most people.
Another challenge is that vaccines are only available for adults in some secondary and tertiary health facilities. This means that most people in rural areas can not benefit.
Progress in Africa
WHO reported that only 15% (7/47) of countries were conducting prevention efforts with higher national coverage for both hepatitis B dose and pentavalent vaccination for children over 90 years of age. %.
The agency said that there were major gaps in the screening and treatment of hepatitis with less than eight countries providing subsidized tests and treatment for viral hepatitis.
"Uganda has started free hepatitis B treatment at the national level and Rwanda provides free treatment for hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
"These two countries are champions of the regional response and are on track to meet the goals of the 2020 framework for community testing and outreach," he said.
The scorecard showed that hepatitis B vaccine delivery at birth and early childhood is the most effective way to stop the transmission of the virus. In fact, 95% of the burden of chronic disease is due to infections among children contracted before their fifth birthday, including mother-to-child transmission.
Moeti said that despite the low cost of vaccination at birth (less than $ 0.20 per child), only 11 countries in the region follow this protocol.
"Cabo Verde is one of those countries where the government has mobilized financial resources and achieved 99% vaccination coverage at birth.
What is Uganda doing?
The WHO said that in Uganda, more than 6% of the population was infected.
The commitment to end hepatitis infection was motivated by civil society and strong political will, making it one of the first African countries to fund national actions against hepatitis B.
Uganda has invested about US $ 3 million to launch an extensive free hepatitis B screening program in 2015, which saw more than four million people screened.
There was also widespread community mobilization and awareness raising.
Ms. Moeti said that more than 30% of the population infected with hepatitis B is now aware of her status and can access comprehensive treatment services, including free medication.
"This performance exceeds the 2020 goal of screening and awareness. However, much remains to be done to achieve treatment goals.
"The first African summit on hepatitis should be held in Uganda," said Moeti.
"The country has great lessons to share and we support these important exchanges as they contribute to evidence-based policy making and the promotion of partnerships for more concerted action against viral hepatitis." In the region. They show us that it is possible to fight this disease. "
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