Mumbis Foundation Ghana a non-governmental organisation has expressed worry over the mother-to-child transmission of Hepatitis B which is on the ascendency in Effutu in the Central Region.
The group says the initial research it conducted indicated that 178 persons contracted Hepatitis B out of 2,106 samples taken to the lab.
According to the group which organised a Hepatitis B health screening and vaccination exercise supported by the Member of Parliament for the Effutu constituency, Alexander Afenyo Markin, its members are bent on increasing awareness creation of the disease.
“We initially conducted random sampling in nine villages in rural Winneba, and we found out that out of 2000 samples we brought to the lab, 178 people tested positive for Hepatitis B. And it is interesting to know that 95% of the people we tested didn’t know they had the disease. We want to plead with corporate Ghana to take a keen interest in Hepatitis B testing since it is a silent killer ravaging many homes. He noted that most of the mother-to-child transmission often occurs in the rural areas where Hepatitis B education is less and the cost and access to HBIG is a huge burden,” founder of the group, Israel Adorbley said.
The exercise according to the organisers is meant to also commemorate this year’s World Hepatitis B-day, which is celebrated worldwide on July 28.
The event started with a health walk through some principal streets of Winneba to create awareness of the disease.
The Foundation was grateful to the Member of Parliament for Effutu whose support helped them engage in the mass testing exercise.
“We are grateful to Alexander Afenyo Markin who is the Member of Parliament for Effutu for supporting this worthy cause.”
The group is worried over the lack of support from the government towards fighting this disease and called for more support from decision-makers, institutions, donors to help achieve the WHO viral hepatitis elimination target by 2030.
The Medical Director for the Winneba Municipal Hospital, Dr. Akwesi Bota who was present at the health screening exercise urged the general public to endeavour to take the vaccines to protect ourselves against the disease.
“The only way to prevent yourself from contracting Hepatitis B is to vaccinate. Another way we can also prevent Hepatitis B is by keeping to one particular partner and protecting ourselves during intercourse,” Dr. Akwesi Bota added.