436 diagnosed with hepatitis in Nasarawa – Commissioner

Iya disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lafia, on the sideline of a stakeholders’ meeting on the burden of viral hepatitis in the state.

The commissioner was represented by the Dr Ibrahim Adamu, Director of Public Health.

He said that the state Ministry of health in collaboration with an international partner, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) piloted the hepatitis programme at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH) in Lafia last year.

He said that 3,035 persons were screened between January and date as part of the pilot phase and 436 of them were confirmed positive to having the disease.

The commissioner said the treatment initiative being piloted in the state which included the tools being used for the diagnoses of the disease (genexpert) had never been used anywhere in the world.

He said that the cost of the 12 weeks’ course of treatment, especially for hepatitis B, is N35, 000.

Iya said the high cost had deterred some of those diagnosed with the disease, especially those in the rural areas from going for it.

He said that only 70 out of the 436 confirmed to be positive were undergoing treatment.

“We know that government and its agencies alone cannot tackle the burden of viral hepatitis.

“There is the need for all stakeholders including international partners like CHAI to strategise toward combating the scourge,” he said.

He said that now, the government could not provide free hepatitis treatment for people.

Sensitization on preventive measures and creating access to care and treatment was crucial, he said.

He recalled that in the early days of HIV/AIDS in the country, the cost of treatment monthly per person was about N10,000.

This was prohibitive and made it difficult from accessing it, Ayi said.  (NAN)