Say No to Ignorance

‘‘…. I never had the opportunity to listen as people spoke on viral hepatitis until my first job appointment…..”

There is a societal stigma about hepatitis. In Ghana, infected people are alienated by the society. Others are also isolated within their families, hidden away from visitors or made to eat alone. Many carriers are refused access to educational facilities and there is as a result a high prevalence of school dropout and illiteracy.

They are looked down upon for contacting the virus, as it is generally to be associated with sexual promiscuity. Because society ignores their plight some carriers choose to revenge on society by spreading the virus through indiscriminate sexual activities.

“….I was prescribed complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. It was difficult but I obliged…”

What made it worse was that, I had a strong affinity for alcohol. Alcohol is poisonous to the liver. If you have hepatitis B or C, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to cut out drinking or cut down as much as you can. Alcohol may increase damage to your liver and may cause liver scarring (cirrhosis) and liver cancer.

Alcohol can also make hepatitis treatment less effective and interact with other medication.

Hepatitis B and C also known as “silent epidemic” go unnoticed by health professionals or by communities across our country. Several people living with the infection are ignorant of its existence.

Our goal is to reduce the number of new infections, increase status awareness among people living with virus, and eliminate the transmission of viral hepatitis from mothers to their children and the first step toward achieving these goals is to raise public awareness of this life-threatening disease.

We must work to reduce the social stigma of the virus, and to ensure that testing, information, counseling, and treatment are available to all who need it. The hard work and dedication of healthcare professionals, researchers, and advocates will help bring us closer to these goals.