Ghana needs elimination action plan for viral hepatitis

Frontliners in the fight against viral hepatitis in Ghana Monday called on the Government to consider an action plan for the elimination of the disease.

Ghana presently has a National Policy on Viral Hepatitis dated 2014 but has no elimination plan.

Dr Kenneth Tachi, a Gastronomy Specialist, said the nation annually recorded more than 50,000 cases of the disease that infects a third of the global population.

There was, therefore, the need for a clear-cut elimination plan with targets aligned to the World Health Organisation Global Strategy to halt the over 7000 lives claimed yearly.

Dr Tachi was the Guest Speaker at a stakeholders’ meeting to mark the World Hepatitis Day in Ho, organised by the Ghana Association for the Study of the Liver and Digestive Diseases (GASLIDD), and the Ho Teaching Hospital.

He said the action plan should help enhance critical indicators and interventions such as testing as the disease deserved attention equal to HIV, malaria and other resident life reapers.

Dr Tachi, who co-founded a virtual clinic that offers hepatitis care support, said the present disease awareness rate among the infected was at 60 per cent as Hepatitis was often downplayed, adding that even professionals in the medical field seemed to ignore its impact.

“If the current trajectory continues, more people will die from hepatitis than the major killer diseases combined,” he said.

Stigma surrounding the disease added psychological burdens to the financial costs of managing it, and so the gaps, including in information, prevention, testing, and treatment, must be addressed.

He said there was also a lack of policy on vaccination, which should ensure introduction of a birth dose, an important component.

Dr Tachi told the Ghana News Agency that Ghana had less that 50 specialists in gastronomical diseases, while several smaller health facilities did not have the expertise.

A total of about 42,300 cases of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and about 9,200 of Hepatitis C (HCV) are recorded annually in Ghana, and with deaths of about 4000 and 3000, respectively.

Approximately 90 per cent of the infected are undiagnosed.

The WHO Global Elimination Strategy says hepatitis infections should be reduced by 90 per cent by 2030 and deaths by 65 per cent.

It also aims to ensure that at least 90 per cent of people with Hepatitis B and C are diagnosed, and at least 80 per cent of those eligible receive the appropriate treatment.

This year’s World Hepatitis Day is on the theme: “One Life One Liver,” and the stakeholder meeting climaxed a week-long activity by GASLIDD to mark the occasion.

Management of the Ho Teaching Hospital, students of the University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), some senior high schools in Ho among other organisations attended the programme.

Professor Lydia Aziato, the Vice Chancellor of UHAS, who was the Guest of Honour, said the elimination of the disease was achievable with the availability of vaccines and treatments, as well as “greater awareness and understanding” of the disease, the risks, and access to cheaper diagnostics and treatment.

“With Covid-19 no longer a global health emergency, now is the time to prioritise a hepatitis-free world and meet the Global 2030 targets,” she said.

Prof. Yaw Asante Awuku, the President of GASLIDD, said a series of health screening, networking and education activities were undertaken during the week to mark the Day.

More than 900 were screened, and 600 were vaccinated in the Ho Ahoe Community, the Anfoega SHS, and the Ho Teaching Hospital’s Taxi Rank, with similar activities ongoing across the country.

Prof Awuku bemoaned what he described as “inadequate action” by the Government and stakeholders, including the Ghana Health Service, saying healthcare for the prevention of the virus was inadequate and should receive total coverage from the National Health Insurance Scheme.

“If it is fully placed on the NHIS, we would be able to fully eliminate viral hepatitis within a decade,” he said.