The global community is today marking World Hepatitis Day .
The Day marked on 28 July of every year, is an opportunity to step up national and international efforts towards eliminating hepatitis globally by 2030 as outlined in the World Health Organization’s Global hepatitis report of 2017.
28 July was chosen for the celebration because it is the birthday of a Nobel-prize winning scientist, Dr Baruch Blumberg who discovered hepatitis B virus, HBV, in 1967, and developed a diagnostic test and vaccine for the virus two years later.
Correspondent Emmanuel Okonkwo who sampled people’s opinion on the essence of the day, reports that
Hepatitis is an inflammatory condition of the liver commonly caused by a viral infection, and has it’s other possible causes as heavy alcohol use, toxins, some medications, and certain medical conditions.
Research reveals that viral hepatitis causes more than one million deaths each year and about two hundred and ninety million people worldwide are living with the virus unaware, hence the need for public awareness on the disease, to get more people diagnosed and save lives from the deadly disease.
Viral hepatitis which is a group of infectious diseases known as hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E, can be easily contacted from a victim through contact of body fluids, either through sexual intercuts, blood contact or even saliva, and if not treated with caution would gradually develop into a more severe state which is know as the Chronic hepatitis that results to scarring of the liver, abnormal functioning of the liver and in due time, liver cancer.
In an interview, a consultant Radiologist and a lecturer at the Department of Radiology, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Dr. Samuel Udobi explained that hepatitis A,B, and C which are the common ones among them, could be contacted through blood transfusion, use of sharp objects used by already affected person, and asked people to avoid sharing of sharp objects and maintain good hygiene.
Dr Udobi recommended that people should go for hepatitis test and get immunized, as according to him early detection aids treatment of the disease.
On her part, a Dietitian in Awka, Lady Oluchukwu Ezue who regretted that many with hepatitis are oblivious of their positive status, advised hepatitis patients to consult dietitians for proper guidance on adequate diets, and called on government at all levels to provide hepatitis laboratories, make vaccine available at no or minimal cost, and also promote awareness on the deadly disease in remote areas.
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