Hepatitis B and C are the second major killer infectious diseases
As Ghana marks World Hepatitis Day today, the government has been implored to let the disease be covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme.
According to Dr Adwoa Agyei-Nkansah, a Physician Specialist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, the treatment of Hepatitis is highly expensive and cannot be left solely to the patient.
Viral Hepatitis B and C are leading infectious killer diseases affecting 325 million people worldwide, causing about 1.4 million deaths a year.
Hepatitis B and C are the second major killer infectious diseases after tuberculosis, and 9 times more infectious than HIV.
She said: “At least, it should be on the health insurance” because it costs about GHS1,000 to investigate and identify the strain.
Dr Agyei-Nkansah, who was speaking in an interview with Class 91.3FM after the launch of the National Guidelines for prevention, care and treatment of viral Hepatitis in Accra, said : “We should invest in Hepatitis B because it is a preventable disease and it is causing lots of problems, especially liver cancer in people in their productive age group”.
