Group partners Health Ministry on free Hepatitis screening, treatment in 10 states

By Aderogba George

The Centre For Initiative and Development (CFID), a Taraba-based NGO, has partnered with the Federal Ministry of Health to provide free Hepatitis screening for pregnant women in 10 states.

Dr Danjuma Adda, a former President of World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) who is also the Executive Director of the organisation, spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday.

Adda spoke to NAN on the sideline of the 2024 Biennial Conference of the National Council for Women Societies (NCWS) of Nigeria.

He listed the states for the free hepatitis screening for pregnant women to include Lagos, Kano, Katsina, Delta, Taraba, Plateau, Nasarawa, Zamfara, Imo and Kaduna.

NAN reports that the centre was able to screen and give free treatment on Hepatitis B and C to no fewer than 500 Nigerians at the NCWS programme.

Meanwhile, Adda said that the screening and treatment would also be given to spouses and other household members in the 10 states, and would be conducted in 22 hospitals across Nigeria.

The executive director said that the project would also involve  relinking people diagnosed with hepatitis B and C into care.

According to him, the implementation of the project would run within 13 months and is titled “Partnerships to provide viral hepatitis, triple elimination and relinking undiagnosed untreated individuals to care in Nigeria”.

Adda said that one of the objectives of the project is to provide free Hepatitis B testing for 120,000 pregnant women in antenatal care across these states.

“This project will be done in collaboration with the NCWS (a women group) and advisory partners like Clinton Health Access Initiatives (CHAI), Hepatitis B Foundation, World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) and other global partners.

“Partners/husbands, and the household of the women who are tested positive to Hepatitis B are to be tested as well and vaccinated,” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Vivian Ihechu