This post was first published last year but a recent event prompted me to publish it again, especially for the benefit of those who didn’t have the opportunity to read it then. I have also added new information in this post. Please read and share the message with those who may not know. It is claimed that contracting a particular strain of hepatitis is like death sentence for most people living in Africa. So, please help spread the awareness in Africa about the deadliness of hepatitis.
The First
Service in my church on Sunday is tagged “Empowerment Service’, where issues
like entrepreneurship, academics, health, wealth, purpose, etc., are addressed.
Last Sunday’s Empowerment Service was on health and it was a revealing and
enlightening experience for most of us who were present at the service. The
speaker at the programme, a medical doctor, spoke on the deadliness of
Hepatitis infection and its prevalence in Nigeria. So, I am using this platform
to present some of the things I gleaned from the talk.
A staggering
revelation the speaker made was that Hepatitis infection is deadlier than HIV
and costlier to manage. Hepatitis B, he told us, is incurable while Hepatitis C
can be treated but can you imagine spending 30,000 naira per week on treatment
for 48 consecutive weeks? That should be around 200 dollars per week. Please
try to calculate what that amounts to. How many people in Nigeria can afford
such a treatment? It is however surprising to know that vaccination for this
disease is not supposed to be more than 1000 naira (that should be around 7
dollars) and I want to hazard a guess that many people are not aware of this.
What is painful about this disease is the fact it is prevalent in Nigeria and
many people are ignorant about it. How many Nigerians have died from Hepatitis
infection with the death attributed to something else? How many Nigerian are
carrying the virus around now? We may not know. I believe that our society
should embark on an aggressive drive to sensitise and vaccinate people against
this deadly disease.
The
Hepatitis infection is an inflammation affecting the liver. It can be
contagious or non-contagious. It can also be fulminant. I looked up ‘fulminant’
in the dictionary and I got these meanings: coming on suddenly and with great
severity; (of a disease or symptom) severe and sudden in onset. This means
Hepatitis infection can come upon one suddenly with very severe effects. Some
cases of Hepatitis infection may give you signs, some may not. There are
different types of Hepatitis: A, B, C, D, E... Some of the symptoms of
Hepatitis infection are: passage of dark urine, yellowing of the eyes
(jaundice), abdominal discomfort on the right side, weight loss, easy bruising,
bleeding tendencies, swelling,
and it can be contracted through blood
transfusion, sex, seminal fluids, etc.
My advice to
you is to go for Hepatitis test, if you haven’t done that. And if you test
negative, please go for vaccination against this disease. If you test positive,
please seek medical advice immediately. I have done the test and I have been
vaccinated.
I came across the following facts about hepatitis B virus by Iprodigy Group Nigeria and I decided to share them with you:
1. Despite there being a vaccine, Hepatitis B Virus(HBV) infection kills one person every 30-45 seconds.
2. Most of the people who are infected (almost two-thirds) are unaware of their infection and this has resulted in the silent HBV infection becoming one of the biggest threat to the health of the world.
3. HBV is about 10 times more prevalent than HIV infection worldwide. HIV is more prevalent in Africa, HPV is more prevalent in Asia.
4. The general perception is that HIV virus is very infectious and contagious however Hepatitis B Virus is 100 times more infectious than HIV.
5. If not properly monitored or treated HBV infection can kill 25% of the infected people due to liver cancer or liver failure from cirrhosis.
6. Hepatitis C is caused by another lethal virus like HBV and infects about 180 million people worldwide. There is no cure from this infection and there is no vaccine that has been developed.
7. HBV and Hepatitis C together have infected 530 million of the 6 billion people worldwide.
8. Pregnant women who have hepatitis B infection or those who are carriers of hepatitis B virus can pass this infection to their babies when they are born.
9. Individuals with high risk of infection with HBV include – illegal injection of drugs, haemophiliacs, homosexual and bisexual males, sexually active heterosexual persons with multiple partners, prisoners, patients on haemodialysis, health care staff who have needle stick injury and people who indulge in body piercing and tattooing. Certain world population have a higher incidence and include – Alaskan Eskimos, Pacific Islanders, Haitian and Indo-chinese immigrants. Travellers to these regions should take all the precautions.
10. Hepatitis B recombinant vaccine is a very safe vaccine as it has no human blood or blood products and it is produced by genetic re-engineering process and usually requires three injections for protection over a six months period.
I came across the following facts about hepatitis B virus by Iprodigy Group Nigeria and I decided to share them with you:
1. Despite there being a vaccine, Hepatitis B Virus(HBV) infection kills one person every 30-45 seconds.
2. Most of the people who are infected (almost two-thirds) are unaware of their infection and this has resulted in the silent HBV infection becoming one of the biggest threat to the health of the world.
3. HBV is about 10 times more prevalent than HIV infection worldwide. HIV is more prevalent in Africa, HPV is more prevalent in Asia.
4. The general perception is that HIV virus is very infectious and contagious however Hepatitis B Virus is 100 times more infectious than HIV.
5. If not properly monitored or treated HBV infection can kill 25% of the infected people due to liver cancer or liver failure from cirrhosis.
6. Hepatitis C is caused by another lethal virus like HBV and infects about 180 million people worldwide. There is no cure from this infection and there is no vaccine that has been developed.
7. HBV and Hepatitis C together have infected 530 million of the 6 billion people worldwide.
8. Pregnant women who have hepatitis B infection or those who are carriers of hepatitis B virus can pass this infection to their babies when they are born.
9. Individuals with high risk of infection with HBV include – illegal injection of drugs, haemophiliacs, homosexual and bisexual males, sexually active heterosexual persons with multiple partners, prisoners, patients on haemodialysis, health care staff who have needle stick injury and people who indulge in body piercing and tattooing. Certain world population have a higher incidence and include – Alaskan Eskimos, Pacific Islanders, Haitian and Indo-chinese immigrants. Travellers to these regions should take all the precautions.
10. Hepatitis B recombinant vaccine is a very safe vaccine as it has no human blood or blood products and it is produced by genetic re-engineering process and usually requires three injections for protection over a six months period.
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