The Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, has called on African nations to intensify efforts to increase immunization coverage for chronic hepatitis.
Pate made the call on Tuesday in Abuja during the opening ceremony of the African Hepatitis Summit with the theme: ‘Putting Africa on Track towards Viral Hepatitis Elimination.’
Pate, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Daju Kachollom, said that hepatitis continues to pose a huge public health threat, unleashing devastating consequences among patients grappling with chronic infections worldwide.
“However, it’s noteworthy that hepatitis is preventable and curable, by putting in place a simplified approach deliverable at the primary level of care.
“This approach fortifies our ongoing and sustained commitment towards achieving universal health coverage by 2023,” he said.
Giving statistics about the disease, he said that currently, Africa battles with a substantial hepatitis burden, with 82 million people living with Chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) and nine million people living with Chronic Hepatitis C (CHC) infections.
He added that the figures were further exacerbated by the fact that only 0.1 percent of two percent diagnosed with CHB and zero percent of five percent diagnosed with CHC received treatment in the year 2020.
“These figures sharply contrast with the notable progress made globally, with 10 percent of 296 million people diagnosed with CHB and 25 percent of 58 million diagnosed with CHC receiving treatment.
“In spite of a 90 per cent risk of children acquiring CHB from mother-to-child transmission, only 14 out of 47 African countries have introduced routine HepB-BD vaccination.
“Also, merely 17 percent of newborns in Africa have received a timely HepB-BD vaccination in spite of it being recognised as a cost-effective tool to prevent new infections,” he said.
He added that with the availability of affordable Directly Acting Anti-viral (DAAs) drugs for curing HCV and Tenofovir for treating HBV, African countries are strategically poised to overcome barriers to treatments.
He noted that the high cost of treatment which was often paid out-of-pocket continues to create a barrier to assess.
“It is high time African nations collaborate to advocate for local production. We must also explore that health insurance are optimised.
“As we advocate for augmented financial commitment and support for hepatitis control response, it is imperative for African countries to align with World Health Organisation’s (WHO) new global health sector strategy, which has delineated new actions and targets to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030.
“This strategy aims to curtail new infections and deaths to half a million each, globally, a reduction of 90 percent and 65 percent respectively,” he said.
On the homefront, Pate said that Nigeria is commitment to eliminating the disease.
According to him, the obligation is manifested through various interventions and commitments such as continuous strengthening of primary healthcare system, public awareness campaigns and, inclusion of hepatitis in the minimum package for national health insurance among others.
“We will persist in working with the WHO and other stakeholders as well as mobilise and sustain domestic funding until Nigeria is hepatitis-free,” he said.
The President, World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA), Dr Danjuma Adda, said that he was not proud of the slow progress of African nations towards eliminating viral hepatitis as more could be done.
According to him, every year many are pushed into extreme poverty by the cost of paying for care out of pocket.
He added that Africa has the solution to effectively treat and prevent Hepatitis B and to cure Hepatitis C.
“We must stop babies from getting infected with hepatitis B when there are safe vaccines, we must prevent this cruelness and we must end stigma and discrimination against people with hepatitis.
“We must look inwards to generate domestic funding and stop relying on external funding to solve our local problems because we have the resources to eliminate hepatitis across Africa.
“We hope this event will stir in our hearts the strong motivation towards taking daring and ambitious goals and setting targets to accelerate hepatitis elimination across Africa,” he said.
Presenting a paper about ‘The Cost of Hepatitis Elimination in Africa- Investment Case’, Dr Homie Razavi, Managing Director, Center for Disease Analysis (CDA) Foundation, said that Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) screening and treatment would peak at 2.1 to 1.7 billion dollars per year in 2035.
He also said that that Hepatitis C Vaccine (HCV) screening and treatment would peak at 218 million dollars per year and would drop after elimination is achieved.
According to him, elimination of viral hepatitis in Africa is feasible and highly cost effective and cost saving.
“There are currently no white knights out there who are willing to provide screening, lab costs and treatment (all) free of charge.
“A hybrid strategy where countries cover some costs and patients cover other costs has the highest likelihood of success.
“However, this requires active engagement by countries to lower the price to patients to make lab tests and treatment affordable,” he added.
The highlight of the event was the award presented to the Nasarawa State Governor, Mr Abdullahi Sule, the governments of Egypt and Rwanda for their strides towards eliminating the disease in their respective domains.
