Ghanaians urged to get tested for Hepatitis B - the silent killer

Accra, Dec 21, GNA - Ms Eunice Ofosua Amoako, President of the Lady Pharmacists' Association of Ghana (LAPAG), on Thursday said Hepatitis B infection was a threat to public health and called on Ghanaians to get tested to know their status and get early treatment.

She said Hepatitis B which was a leading cause of cancer, was preventable, adding; "now was the time to take action; get tested; get vaccinated and get treated".

Speaking at a Hepatitis B screening in Accra, she described the disease as an inflammation of the liver, which led to the swelling of the liver cells due to long term damage.

The liver is a very important organ of the body, which performs over 500 functions including food digestion, metabolism of medicines and removal of waste products from the body.

Hepatitis B referred to as a silent killer has common symptoms of fever, fatigue, muscle or joint pain, loss of appetite, mild nausea and vomiting.

Serious symptoms, which required immediate medical attention and even hospitalization, were severe nausea, yellow eyes and skin (Jaundice) and bloated or swollen stomach.

She said Hepatitis B was second only to tobacco as a leading cause of cancer and the fourth most common cause of cancer in the world.

The LAPAG President noted that the disease was 100 times more infectious than HIV.

She said 400 million people worldwide live with the chronic infection, with two billion people infected worldwide and that it was expected that about 10 million to 30 million people would become infected each year.

She said vaccination and treatment could halt the disease’s progression, suppress viral multiplication; reduce liver inflammation and decrease progression to liver failure, cancer and death in people.

She, however, advised that Ghanaians should avoid direct contact with blood and bodily fluids; contaminated surfaces should be cleaned with diluted bleach solution and that people should cultivate the habit of hand washing with soap after any potential exposure to blood.

GNA