A gastroenterology specialist, Professor Abraham Orkurga Malu of Jos University Teaching
Hospital, has called on the federal government to take decisive action through proper funding to curb the menace of hepatitis in the country.
Malu, who was a guest lecturer at a colloquium organized by the Bayero University, Kano in honour of the President, National Post Graduate Medical College of Nigeria, Professor Musa Muhammad Borodo, said about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s population, majority of whom are economically active are presently living with the deadly viral disease.
He described viral hepatitis as one of the major global health problems with more than 500 million patients chronically infected, causing over one million deaths per year globally. He lamented that despite the initial steps taken by the federal government when it first signed the Global Health Sector Strategy (GHHS) in 2016 to eliminate Hepatitis by 2030, through pilot trainings and testing of the training modules, “there is no federally-funded hepatitis prevention and treatment programme (except for birth-dose vaccination) to reach critical, mass population of Nigerians with cost effective life-saving treatment. (Text courtesy Daily Trust)