THE HEPATITIS BURDEN ON NIGERIA AND THE NEED FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The significance of a healthy population to the development of any nation cannot be overestimated. This is buttressed by the efforts of the United Nation through goal three (3) of the Sustainable Development Goals in ensuring good health and wellbeing of people worldwide. However, these efforts are being hindered by the prevalence of some viral diseases such as hepatitis B and C. To Nigeria and many other countries, these viral diseases have continued to be an issue of concern. Recently, the World Health Organization raised an alarm concerning the wide spread of viral hepatitis in the world and indicated that African countries and Nigeria inclusive are largely affected. According to the Global Hepatitis Report 2024 “combined, hepatitis B and C cause 3500 deaths per day, and mortality is increasing.” It stated further that “an estimated 254 million people are living with hepatitis B and 50 million people are living with hepatitis C worldwide, and 6000 people are n...