Despite the estimation that about 20 million Nigerians are infected with Hepatitis B and C, many of those living with the virus are not aware of their status while low awareness about the disease and stigmatisation remain.
According to a recent report, Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest burden of viral hepatitis with a prevalence of 11-14 per cent for Hepatitis B and 2.2 per cent for Hepatitis C.
Experts have expressed worry that Nigeria may not meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3: 3 which is to halt the transmission of hepatitis globally by 2030 while citing low awareness, inadequate gastroenterologists, stigmatisation and out of pocket expenditure.
They noted that hepatitis is the commonest cause of chronic liver disease in the country with many people being at risk of contracting it, as they emphasised the urgent need for vaccination of the entire population.
Former President of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Prof. Mike Ogirima, submitted that there are not enough gastroenterologists in the country.
He said there are just about 100 of them in Nigeria, a county with over 200 million population, whereas the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended one doctor to 600 people.
“We have the physicians we call gastroenterologists, under that, we have the hepatologists; people who take care of the liver.
“In Nigeria, we have one doctor to 2000 population. Gastroenterologists may not be more than a hundred. WHO recommended that there should be one doctor to 600 people not patients but we have one doctor to 2000 patients in Nigeria, so where are we going to get many herpetologists or gastroenterologists together,” he lamented.
Speaking on the plight of hepatitis patients, Prof. Ogiri blamed inadequate manpower for the delay involved in appointment, saying “if you have hepatitis in Abuja, for you to get a treatment, you have to queue.”
On the way forward, Ogirima tasked the government on more training and establishment of more medical universities in the country.
According to him, “the government needs to train more, retain more and motivate more. What I mean by training more, the government needs to establish more medical universities. By retaining more, it means the government has to prevent them from going out of the country, engage them as you train them by motivating them and give them a good working environment”, he explained. (Leadership)