Health experts have urged the people in the Northern Region to voluntarily go for Hepatitis B testing to avoid being consumed by what many have described as ‘silent killer’.
Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) which is a viral disease can be contracted through contact with blood or body fluids of an infected person, the same way as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).Health experts say, Hepatitis B Virus is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV.
In 2010, the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) alone recorded over 7 thousand 8 hundred and 92 cases. The number astronomically increased to about 9,842 in 2011.
This, health experts say, calls for serious attention by all stakeholders in health. Little knowledge on the mode of transmission and unwillingness among people to know their Hepatitis B status are said to be the cause of the increase in the northern region.
Speaking to Zaa News, a senior Biomedical Scientist at the Department of Pathology of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Robil Mikdad said so many people in the region are not aware of Hepatitis B.
The senior biomedical scientist said the causative agent is one of the most dangerous diseases in the world and everyone must try to know their Hepatitis B status. He advised the people in the region not to shy away in visiting hospitals for testing.
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