Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, has disclosed that Nigeria would begin production of Hepatitis vaccines to eliminate the scourge of the disease in the country.
Dr. Ehanire said that viral Hepatitis remained a public health threat, especially hepatitis b and c, which causes chronic infection with attendant morbidity and mortality.
The Minister said this, on Monday, in Abuja, at the flag-off of 2022 World Hepatitis Day, with the theme, “Bringing Hepatitis Care Closer to You.”
READ ALSO: http://2023: I can never underestimate Peter Obi, Atiku – APC chair, Adamu
The Minister further disclosed that over 20 million Nigerians are estimated to be infected with Hepatitis b or c due to low awareness of the infection.
He maintained that the spread of hepatitis was similar to HIV, which was fueled by unsafe sexual behaviour and injection practices, unsafe blood transfusion, harmful practices such as sharing of sharp objects for scarification marks, tattoos etc and mother-to-child transmission.
Said he, “Nigeria plans to be producing vaccines despite the vaccine policy in Nigeria and we’re already on track, to work with the private sector to start producing routine vaccines which are called the traditional vaccines.
“We are about to be connected by the end of next month with partners to start working on a new mRNA vaccine collaboration. so we shall be receiving those who shall be working with research and development of the new generation of vaccines based on mRNA.
“I am proud to note that Nigeria is one of the first counties to have achieved this in a short time. the core pillars identified for attaining the 2030 target include infant vaccination, prevention of mother-to-child intervention, blood and injection safety, harm reduction, diagnosis and treatment. the national strategic framework will be formally presented as part of this briefing.
“As a country committed to the elimination of viral hepatitis by 2030, the need to create massive public awareness cannot be overemphasized. together with this, we need to build the capacity of health care providers, expand access to diagnosis and treatment, and improve community engagement as well as political leadership at all levels,” he said.
READ ALSO: http://EFCC: We’ll soon resume issuance of SCUML certificates
In his remarks, Country Representative, of the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Nigeria, Dr. Walter Kazadi Mulombo, noted that Nigeria had the highest burdens of viral Hepatitis with a national hepatitis b (HBV) prevalence rate of 8.1%, and a hepatitis c (hcv) prevalence rate is 1.1% among adult aged 15-64 years.
He said that the high cost of treatment and out-of-pocket payment is identified as impediments to treatment access for people that are aware of their status.
In the words of Dr. Mulombo, “In recent years, there has been a growing political commitment at country level, by introducing the hepatitis b birth dose and the pentavalent (dtp-hepb-hib) vaccine into routine childhood immunization schedule since 2004, Nigeria is contributing to the global achievement of the reduction of hepatitis b infections in children.
“Similarly, since 2005, the country has routinely screened all donated and transfused blood and blood products for hbv and hcv and has institutionalized injection safety and universal precaution since 2007,” he said.
