As the world marked this year’s World Hepatitis Day on Tuesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said not less than 124,000 Africans die from undetected and untreated hepatitis yearly.
The WHO said 4.5 million children under five years of age are infected with the disease annually.
In a message to mark the 2021 World Hepatitis Day, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, said Hepatitis is a silent epidemic in Africa, and to this end WHO is seeking to integrate hepatitis B interventions into antenatal care services.
She noted that more than 90 million people are living with hepatitis in the Region, accounting for 26 per cent of the global total.
Moeti said, “Around 4.5 million African children under five years old are infected with chronic hepatitis B, reflecting an enormous 70 per cent of the global burden in this age group.
“The global target of less than 1 per cent incidence of hepatitis B in children under 5 years has been reached, but the African Region is lagging behind at 2.5 per cent.”
Moeti also mentioned that the cases could be prevented by eliminating mother-to-child transmission of the disease, during or shortly after birth and in early childhood.
She noted that key interventions against hepatitis B include vaccination at birth and in early childhood, screening pregnant women, and providing timely treatment.
“So, in the WHO African Region, we are urging especially that “mothers can’t wait.”
Moeti further disclosed that only 14 countries in the Region are implementing hepatitis B birth-dose vaccine.
She said, “Hepatitis medicines have become much more affordable, with prices as low as US$ 60 per patient for a 12-week treatment.
“Considering this advantage, African Heads of States have committed to addressing viral hepatitis as a public health threat in the Cairo Declaration in February 2020. In this line, the Egyptian Initiative planned to provide hepatitis C treatment for 1 million Africans. So far, this initiative has reached more than 50,000 people in South Sudan, Eritrea and Chad.
“Part of them, Rwanda, Uganda and Benin have established free testing and treatment programs for hepatitis, and 16 other countries are starting pilot projects in this direction.
“We also want to strengthen collaboration with key partners, such as the Organization of African First Ladies for Development, which have championed progress towards a HIV-free generation. By expanding programs to incorporate hepatitis, action can be quickly scaled up.”