Nigeria must improve awareness on hepatitis, allocate more funding for testing and integrate diagnostics into its national health program to curb the spread of the deadly virus that killed an estimated 4,252 people yearly.
But Roche Diagnostics is looking to change that narrative by improving health outcomes and help Nigerians reduce the burden of hepatitis through collaboration with health stakeholders, according to Roberto Taboada, the firm’s general manager, Nigeria and Anglophone West Africa Lead, who spoke to journalists recently.
“Hepatitis continues to be one of the diseases that imposes one of the highest burdens in the health of Nigeria now. People with hepatitis unknowingly transmit the virus to others and part of ways to mitigate it is to integrate diagnostics into National Health programmes to ensure far reach and sustainability,”Taboada said.
“We are collaborating with health stakeholders to strengthen lab capacity and promote better policies to address hepatitis.”
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. It can be caused by viruses, excessive alcohol use, certain medications, toxins, or autoimmune diseases. And the commonest among the forms are hepati
tis A, B, C, D, and E.
Hepatitis B infection (HBV) is preventable and treatable, and hepatitis C virus (HBC) infection is now curable. Yet more than 80 percent of those living with hepatitis B and C in Nigeria are unaware and lack much-needed care.
“Low public awareness is a key barrier. Another one is that the testing is usually not prioritised. Treatment is prioritised at the expense of diagnostics, but again, without a diagnosis you cannot treat all the people that are affected by the disease,” Taboada said.
Nigeria is among the top 10 countries that account for 80 percent, nearly two-thirds of the global burden of hepatitis B and C, according to a new report on global hepatitis published by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Hepatitis is very closely aligned with other disease outcomes like liver cancer that’s causing millions to treat due to high costs involved.
“Due to liver cancer that is caused by hepatitis, we at Roche Diagnostics feel that we can play a big part in helping the government to help patients and people in Nigeria to reduce the burden of hepatitis.
“Testing is an entry point to care and a very important part of disease control. And that’s where Roche Diagnostics can play an important part by identifying more people that are living with hepatitis without knowing, so they can take the appropriate action,” Taboada said.
One of the factors that deters people from getting tested is a perceived stigma associated with patients with hepatitis. But Roche is stepping up to support awareness campaigns and policy engagement to make sure that more people get tested for the disease.
In addressing the menace, the federal government has developed a national strategic plan and is piloting hepatitis testing in some states. However, diagnosis and treatment rates are still far below global benchmarks.
The ministry of health has also recently launched another project called ‘Project 365’ that would include screening, diagnostics and treatment.
Roche aims to expand screening access and better data tracking to accelerate the progress in a bid to reduce or eliminate hepatitis by 2030, an ambitious goal WHO is committed to.
“We have several instruments already installed in Nigeria, mainly used for HIV, but that can also be used for screening of hepatitis. Now we also bring global expertise to support local campaigns and local priorities to address hepatitis. That expertise can help too.”
Taboada however called for improved capacity building and strengthening of the health system, and improved diagnostics.
“We, as rush diagnostics, always look at ourselves as partners long term partners to improve healthcare access and outcomes. And in this case, there’s a lot that we can do together to reach the goal of reducing or eliminating hepatitis by 2030.”
-Article written by Roche Diagonistics
