20 million Nigerians battling hepatitis - Expert

As Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark the 2014 World
Hepatitis Day, a medical doctor and former Chairman of the Nigerian
Medical Association, Edo State chapter, Dr. Philip Ugbodaga, has said
that about 20 million Nigerians are currently battling hepatitis B
and C. Ugbodaga, who disclosed this on Monday at the 2014 World
Hepatitis Day campaign organised by The Clem Agba Foundation in Benin,
explained that the figure represented 12 per cent of the nation's
total population. The oral and maxillofacial surgeon, however, said
the disease, which was deadlier than HIV/AIDS, with more than 500
million people infected globally, remained unknown to many Nigerians.
The expert, who is also a volunteer of TGAF, told The PUNCH that more
than 350 million people were infected globally with hepatitis B while
more than 150 million people were infected with hepatitis C. "In
Nigeria, up to eight per cent of our population are infected with
hepatitis B and up to four per cent are infected with hepatitis C,
hence the need to create awareness on the causative organism of this
disease and to let people know about it and how to prevent the
disease," Ugbodaga said. He said the theme for the 2014 World
Hepatitis Day, 'Think Again', would create a platform for Nigerians to
reflect again about the millions of people who had lost their lives to
the disease. He said, "Let us think about people who do not know what
causes Hepatitis and let us think again about what we need to do to
ensure that our people get information on the killer disease."

Hepatitis, a liver disease, results from an infection with any of at
least five distinct viruses, with the most common identified as
Hepatitis A (HAV), Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV). The
disease could be spread through transfusion of infected blood,
unsterilised equipment, sexual intercourse and from mother to infants
during pregnancy and at childbirth. Complications include serious
liver diseases such as liver cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer
and even death.