The National Guild of Medical Directors (GMD) has declared war on viral hepatitis in Nigeria.
The GMD is a national organization made up of the medical directors of private hospitals in Nigeria.
A statement made available to LEADERSHIP on Friday in Abuja by the Public Relations Officer for the GMD, Abuja, Dr Biodun Ogungbo, said,the association is set to wage an advocacy war on hepatitis focused on the prevention through vaccination, early detection to treat the disease and the management of chronic infection with hepatitis to forestall the significant liver damage that can result.
According to him, “the GMD has thrown its weight behind efforts aimed at eradicating viral hepatitis in our dear country.
”The GMD has chosen ‘Let us make Nigeria HEPATITIS free’ as the theme for its Annual General Meeting (AGM) coming up in May 2017.
”The Federal Ministry of Health and other professional organizations in Nigeria are also engaging the public. However, the GMD desperately need your help in empowering everyone with information and advice. Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, Dr Wisdom Ihejieto, said that doctors, nurses, medical students and laboratory scientists are most at risk because of their job.
He said there is an estimate of about 20 million Nigerians living with viral hepatitis, which is a rough estimate and it could be more or less.
“Some people know they have contracted the virus. However, the vast majority are silent sufferers who do not know they have the disease.”
Ihejieto said, viral hepatitis can be a silent killer with little or no symptoms for a very long time or it can take life very quickly through acute hepatitis.
“Hepatitis itself means inflammation of the liver. And if you do not know, the liver removes waste products from the blood and gets rid of it. Without the liver, we would all die of internal poisoning from the accumulation of the waste products. Such an acute disease causes yellowness of the eyes, severe body itching and brain injury from the toxins.
He explained that for those that the disease does not kill immediately, it lies quietly in the body in a chronic infection.
“They can infect other people without knowing through blood transfusion, needle stick injury and unprotected sex. Mothers can also transmit the infection to their children during delivery and childbirth. The cycle thus continues with new victims made every day.
Chairman of the Local Organising Committee, added that young people are most at risk because of sexual experimentation and unprotected intercourse, the elderly are at risk because of surgery and use of infected needles or materials at the hospitals, chemists, tattoo parlors and even the barber shops.
He further stated that prevention is key to preventing viral hepatitis and early detection.
”Prevention is, as they say, better than cure. What you should do is as follows: Get a blood test to find out if you are clear of the disease or among the silent majority infected with the virus. If you are clear, then get vaccinated to ensure you are protected forever. The key viruses are viral hepatitis B and C. There is an effective vaccine available for hepatitis B but not for C. There is however treatment available for both if the treatment is started early after exposure. Do not wait if you think you may have been exposed. Tell your doctor immediately and insist on treatment.”
By Winifred Ogbebo
Leadership News
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