The Nasarawa State Government of Nigeria has revealed that more than 18,429 individuals have tested positive for Hepatitis in the state.
Ahmed Yahaya, the Commissioner of Health Pharmacist, said this on Thursday, July 28, in Lafia at a conference to mark World Hepatitis Day 2022, with the theme ‘Bringing Hepatitis Care Closer to You’, stating that 181,946 people were screened.
Yahaya described that the state government is dedicated to eliminating the viral Hepatitis by implementing a five-year strategic plan with a target to treat 124,000 individuals.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) set aside the day to acknowledge viral Hepatitis as a worldwide public health challenge.
It is celebrated every year on July 28 to raise its visibility and lure more resources to fight it, and to bring help to the people affected.
The commissioner stated that the state had shown a disproportionately high prevalence of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C compared to the national average.
He said that the state had specific areas around the 13 LGAs for screening of mass community and called on citizens to present themselves for the screening.
Yahaya suggested the public avoid using unsterilised sharp objects, syringes and sharing needles, as well as the transfusion of unscreened blood and blood products.
Therefore, he stated that the public willing to get vaccines around the state must go to primary healthcare centres, general hospitals and the two tertiary medical establishments in the state.
As part of activities to commemorate the day, a non-governmental organisation, Beacon Youth Initiative, in partnership with the State Ministry of Health and other partners, organised free-of-cost hepatitis screening for over 1000 residents of Bukan-Sidi in Lafia.
The Executive Director of the organisation, Envoh Okolo, stated that the exercise was done to scale-up screening for viral Hepatitis in the communities and to vaccinate those who tested negative. He further asked stakeholders to boost investment and financing efforts to eliminate Hepatitis in the world.
