African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic STD's ... - Blackherbals.com

Continued from page 64 – WHO: Hepatitis Toll 'in Millions'
Hepatitis B is the most common, and can be passed from
mother to baby at birth or in early childhood as well as
through contaminated injections or injected drug use.
Hepatitis C is also spread through using unsterile needles
and less commonly through unsafe sex or developing
countries, said the World Health Organization.
Many of those carrying hepatitis are not aware they have
it and can unknowingly transmit it to others.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-14314347
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West Africa: Health - Battling
Hepatitis
By Koffigan E. Adigbli
2 August 2011
Dakar — West African health experts are calling for
governments to take the prevalence of hepatitis B and C
more seriously, and to act to reduce the cost of treatment
as part of more effective control of the disease.
The hepatitis B virus is responsible for more than 80
percent of liver cancers in Africa, said the coordinator of
Senegal's National Programme against Hepatitis,
Aminata Sall Diallo, during an international meeting
held in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, from Jul. 27 to 29.
Hepatitis refers to swelling and inflammation of the
liver, which can be caused by numerous factors,
including a family of five viruses. The Dakar conference
was concerned with the three most common viral strains,
which can cause fatal liver damage and cancer.
The hepatitis A virus spreads via contaminated food or
water. The B strain is transmitted through bodily fluids
like blood or semen, while type C spreads via blood-toblood
contact, such as transfusions. The latter two
viruses produce a long-term illness, while type A
hepatitis runs its course much faster - many infected
people experience only mild symptoms.
The conference aimed to share the issues and challenges
facing each country, to identify the best practices for
Francophone Africa as a whole, and define common
strategies and arguments. "The idea is to push
governments, who have committed themselves, to make
hepatitis a priority so that treatment will be accessible to
all," said Diallo.
"The cost is beyond our resources. It requires a million
CFA francs (around 2,250 dollars) for a month's
treatment; our grants are not sufficient," she stressed.
-65- Traditional African Clinic October 2011
"Our fight is for a focus specifically on long-term
carriers of the virus, to offer them treatment, to fight
effectively to be able to detect the illness in Africa. It's
the only way to prevent transmission of the disease."
According to official statistics released in June, 17
percent of the Senegalese population are carriers of one
or another form of the hepatitis virus, including 12
percent of children under five and 22 percent of
pregnant women. Some 5,000 people die from hepatitis
B in Senegal each year.
Pape Saliou Mbaye, coordinator of medical services at
Dakar’s Hôpital Principal, urges care to prevent
transmission of hepatitis B and C viruses through
contact with infected blood.
"It's necessary to be careful when handling sharp or
pointed objects such as those used by tattooists and
barbers - shaving equipment, piercing equipment, tools
for acupuncture, excision, circumcision and nail
clipping..." Mbaye told IPS.
Diéynaba Samaké, the president of SOS Hépatites
Mali, a local association, said that nearly one in five
Malians are carriers of the hepatitis B virus - 2.6
million people, or half of all young people between 18
and 25 years of age.
"Treatment for hepatitis B [in Mali] remains relatively
expensive. At 600,000 CFA (around 1,348 dollars) per
month, the cost of treatment is equivalent to several
times the monthly salary of an average Malian,"
Samaké told IPS.
"There is not, at this stage, any framework for
specialised care for hepatitis B, but in the past three
years, the government has supported prevention, testing
and treatment of hepatitis B and C."
To reduce the incidence of the disease, Samaké
recommends vaccination as the most effective weapon
against the strains that predominate in Africa.
The president of the Scientific Council of
Cameroonians against Viral Hepatitis, Njoya Oudou,
says his country's prevalence rate for hepatitis B stands
at over 10 percent, and 12 percent for hepatitis C. He
believes governments should show greater political will
to fight the disease.
"Our network operates with its own resources to
educate people, organise refresher courses for doctors,
run campaigns and negotiate with pharmaceutical
firms. For the moment, we have only moral support
from the government," he told IPS.
Ali Djibo, director general of health at the Ministry of
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