WORLD HEPATITIS DAY: MP URGES MORE PUBLIC AWARENESS, SCREENING AND VACCINATION FOR CHRONIC HEPATITIS TO HELP REDUCE IT’S EFFECTION.
The member of Parliament (MP) for Anyaa Sowutuom Constituency Hon. Dr. Adomako Kissi has called for more public awareness on hepatitis B disease to reduce among the populace.
He made the call in commemoration of the World Hepatitis Day, annually celebrated on July 28, with an organised Seminor of Hepatitis B by Hon. Dr. Dickson Adomako Kissi for Constituants at Deseret Hospital, Antie-Aku in the Greater Accra Region.
The Seminor sought to highlight the need to bring hepatitis care closer to communities to ensure better access to treatment and care stating, Hepatitis B is an inflammation of the liver, caused by a variety of infectious viruses leading to a range of health problems, that hepatitis B led to chronic disease in many people most common cause of liver cancer.
He however, explained that a lot of people are not aware of their hepatitis status, noting that the disease remained a ‘silent killer’, mostly undetected due to an absence of symptoms until treatment was late.
The member of Parliament who double as Doctor stressed that public awareness on hepatitis is crucial to encourage all adults to screen for hepatitis B and children to get vaccinated against hepatitis B.
He stressed, knowing one’s status assists to identify those that are hepatitis B positive, so that it can be monitor and prompt treatment to ensure that complications don’t impact on many.
He appealed to the government to incorporate hepatitis screening and Vaccination at the community level and used the opportunity to advised the public against unsafe sexual behaviour, unscreened blood transfusion and harmful traditional practices to reduce their exposure to hepatitis infection.
He further expressed that effective coordination, awareness and improving vaccination would assist the country meet its commitment to eliminate viral hepatitis.
