The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that about 200,000 persons die yearly of hepatitis in Africa.
WHO’s regional director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, disclosed this in a message in Abuja as part of the build-up to mark the 2019 World Hepatitis Day.
He said despite the availability of diagnostic tools and effective treatment, less than one in every 10 of the 71 million people with hepatitis A or B have access to tests.
Moeti said WHO developed a hepatitis scorecard in June this year to help monitor and track progress being made to check the disease prevalence across Africa.
“The highest burden of hepatitis B infection in children less than five years is seen in countries without hepatitis B birth dose vaccination in combination with sub-optimal coverage under (90 percent) of childhood ‘pantevalent’ vaccination and testing as well as treatment, as a public health approach remains the most neglected aspect of the response,” he said.
He expressed the hope that just as the focus of the theme of this year’s world hepatitis day is on pulling more resources to address the scourge, getting government to show more commitment and invest more money will help eliminate the disease by 2030.
While commending Rwanda and Uganda for providing free access to hepatitis treatment, the global health organisation urged member states of the Africa Union to invest more in public health campaign aimed at eliminating hepatitis B and C by carrying hepatitis B vaccination for all newborn.
