Kadjebi (O/R)-Ghana, July 29, GNA – Some 500 residents of Kadjebi in the Oti Region have been tested and vaccinated against Hepatitis B.
The exercise, sponsored by World Vision Ghana, Krachi- Nkwanta Cluster, formed part of the activities marking the World Hepatitis B Day which felled on July 28.
Mrs Mabel Amankwa-Amoah, Kadjebi District Health Promotion Officer, engaging with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), said data gathered on the district revealed low knowledge on the disease, so their started awareness creation on it some months ago.
She said their awareness creation, which took them to Schools, Departments, Churches, Mosques, among others was to educate residents on the dangers of the disease, mode of transmission, symptoms and how to protection themselves against it.
The Health Promotion Officer said Hepatitis B is a viral infection that primarily affected the liver and was caused by the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV).
She said it was a significant global health problem, with approximately 257 million people estimated to be chronically infected with HBV worldwide and that Hepatitis B claimed the lives of 1.34 million individuals in 2015, a rate comparable to TB, but higher than HIV.
Mrs Amankwa-Amoah said HBV prevalence in Ghana had been between 6.7 per cent and 11 per cent among blood donors, 6.4 per cent among pregnant women, and 15.6 per cent among children in the general population.
She named unprotected sex contact, sharing of needles or syringes, mother-to-child transmission, contact with infected blood, among others as mode of transmission.
The Health Promotion Officer said the disease is real and dangerous, so there was the need for everyone to get tested, take a jab for protection, practice safe sex, avoid sharing of needles or syringes, use sterile equipment, among others so as not to contract the disease.
Mrs Amankwa-Amoah told GNA that those who took the first shot today would have to take the second jab on August 28 and the third jab on September 28 to be fully protected against the disease.
Miss Patience Kumah, a beneficiary, commended the sponsors for the exercise and called on the residents to take the jab for protection since prevention is better than cure.
