The Ministry of Health in Cross River State has embarked on free vaccination and testing of citizens against hepatitis.
This is part of measures taken to contain the spread of the virus especially in rural communities.
The Director General, Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Janet Ekpenyong made the remark while flagging-off a city work organised by the Ministry of Health to mark this year’s World Hepatitis Day in Calabar, the capital of Cross River State, south-south Nigeria.
Targeting Grassroots
Dr. Ekpenyong, who also joined in sensitising traders, commuters, pedestrians and shoppers, said that the in line with the 2022 theme “bringing hepatitis care closer to you” the state government was targeting more than 5,000 people at the grassroots for vaccination and free testing.
She said, “we are taking the awareness to our people in the communities. We are urging our people to check their status by getting tested and getting the vaccines to protect themselves. We have also equipped all our PHCs (Primary Healthcare Centres) with test kits and vaccines to ensure we reach our target of 5,000 people across our rural areas.
“For this year besides Calabar, we will be going to Boki local government area for an outreach because Boki is the LGA with the highest prevalence of Hepatitis B in Cross River State. We are very deliberate with our interventions and outreach. We will get them tested and vaccinated.
Silent killer
Describing hepatitis as one of the silent killer viruses in the world with no visible symptoms in a carrier, the Director General stated, “in Nigeria, over 20 million people are living with Hepatitis B and yet they do not even know because most times it presents at the very late stage where complications have already set in. These are things that we want to change.
“For us as a government, we are committed to ensuring that we keep the people of Cross River healthy and alive. The governor, Professor Ben Ayade has made available kits and vaccines for people to get vaccinated and tested for free across all our primary healthcare centres,” she stressed.
Creating Data Bank
The State Programme Coordinator for HIV and Hepatitis, Mrs. Mary Ama disclosed that a technical working committee has been established to harness the various figures gathered by different partners in the field and develop a reliable data bank.
She further hinted that the ministry in collaboration with its partners has taken awareness across the state from 20 to 70 percent despite challenges of adequate funding and support for care.
“We have created a technical working committee to harness all the data from our partners working in different local government areas to enable us have a reliable data bank that we can categorically say this are the numbers of persons tested and these were either negative or positive.
“Over the years, some of the challenges we have had is accessing reliable data because the different organisations working in the field collate their data and own it without sending to a central point for harmonization. But with the committee, that would soon be a thing of the past.
“Also, we are still calling for support and funding to expand our services to a wide range of people across the state whether you are from here or not. Hepatitis is not discriminatory by race, ethnicity, tribe or age. We need all hands on deck to end the scourge of hepatitis,” Ama emphasised.
Several partners including the Lions Club region 4 and 5 led by the chairperson, Mr. Anthony Olanipekun joined in the street sensitisation campaign, distributing fliers and condoms as they engage with the people one-on-one.
Confidence Okwuchi
