RAAP to lead crusade against spread of Hepatitis B in UWR

Han, (U/W), Aug 27, GNA – Rural Action Alliance Programme (RAAP), a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), is putting together a project plan to fight the spread of Hepatitis B at Han in the Jirapa District of the Upper West Region.

The project, which is expected to last for five years, will receive technical support from the Ghana Health Service (GHS).

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency at Han, Mr Evans Sinkari, Executive Director of RAAP, said the project was aimed at reducing the number of deaths caused by the disease in the region.

He said so much energy and resources had in the past been channelled into HIV/AIDS education and campaign to the neglect of Hepatitis B which was more deadly and more prevalent in the area.

He said deaths from the disease were often associated with superstition by the local people because of the lack of knowledge about the disease.

Mr Sinkari said it was in line with this that RAAP was putting together the project which included sensitization, screening, vaccination and treatment.

He therefore appealed to the public to cooperate with RAAP when the project finally started stating that it was better for one to know his or her status on the disease in order to get vaccinated or treated.

Mr Sinkari also appealed to other NGOs and civil society organisations who are interested in getting rid of the disease to come and partner with RAAP to carry out the project.

Mr Mahama Razak Raymond, a Biomedical Scientist at the Jirapa Saint Joseph Hospital, gave more insight into what the disease is all about.

He said the disease is a virus which attacks the liver and could cause liver cirrhosis or cancer which could cause ones untimely death.

He said its mode of spread was mainly through having unprotected sex, sharing the same drinking cup with an infected person, blood transfusion as well as non-skilled delivery.

He said at the St. Joseph Hospital, out of every 10 people screened, seven of them were likely to be Hepatitis C positive and four Hepatitis B positive.

The Biomedical Scientist advised those who were already infected with the HIV virus to get screened and vaccinated against Hepatitis B since the two together could kill one faster.