Hepatitis B deaths worry Adjumani leaders
ADJUMANI –The increase in the number of deaths related to hepatitis B is worrying the district leaders of Adjumani who have confirmed it is second to Malaria in killing people.
According to information obtained from Adjumani district health department, in the financial year 2021/2022 the district lost 45 patients to hepatitis B, accounting for 14.8 percent of all deaths in the district as malaria claimed 70 lives.
The assistant district health officer Adjumani, Henry Lulu attributed the increase in deaths lack of awareness and ignorance about Hepatitis B, and the slow uptake of the testing and vaccination services in the district.
“We are worried that apart from sexually contracting hepatitis B, alcohol abuse and substance abuse could have contributed to the high death rates,” Lulu said.
Samuel Unzima, the focal person for Hepatitis in the district said last financial year, 172 people tested positive with 102 being female and 70 males.
“These numbers are high and the prevalence stands at 7 percent. This is because many people do not embrace testing, most people who want to get married only test for HIV/AIDS forgetting to test for Hepatitis yet it is the most dangerous and highly infectious disease,” Unzima said.
Unzima also explained that most people are unaware of hepatitis B’s mode of transmission, which is why the numbers are going high.
He appealed to the young people who intended to marry not only to test for Hepatitis B, saying it is killing people in high numbers.
The Adjumani hospital medical superintendent, Dr. Michael Ambaku said Adjumani hospital which has a 100-bed capacity is currently overwhelmed by Malaria admissions and Hepatitis B.
“Stock-outs of viral hepatitis commodities including medicines, laboratory reagents leading to high levels of loss to follow up of those who test positive has been our biggest challenge, but we have now received some reagents,” Ambaku said.
Ambaku also maintained that they have expanded programs for outreach to ensure many people access the services.
According to the ministry of health, Hepatitis B is the primary cause of liver-related cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and death.
The high burden of Hepatitis B in Uganda has a prevalence rate of 4.1 percent, according to Uganda Population-Based HIV Impact Assessment, 2016, with 1.8 million chronically infected.
Data from the Ministry of Health also indicates that in west Nile in the financial year 2021/2022, 896 clients tested positive, 415 who tested positive enrolled in care while 144 who tested positive did not enroll in care and treatment.
Globally, Hepatitis B affects approximately 296 million people, including over 6 million children under the age of 5. Hepatitis B contributes to an estimated 820,000 deaths every year. 25 percent of chronic hepatitis B infections progress to liver cancer.
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