The Nasarawa government has a five-year strategic plan to eliminate Hepatitis C, aiming to screen 2.4 million and treat 124,000 people by 2030.

The Commissioner for Health, Gaza Gwamna, made this known at a news conference to commemorate the 2024 World Hepatitis Day (WHD) in Lafia on Tuesday.

The WHD is annually observed on July 28 to raise awareness about hepatitis, a group of infectious diseases known as hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E, and to encourage prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

The commissioner, who said the state has declared war against viral hepatitis, noted that more than 220,000 people have been screened, with 3,000 others provided treatment across the 13 local government areas of the state.

He added, “We have established a state viral hepatitis desk to localise the national guidelines and ensure swift access to services.

“We decentralised the care for viral hepatitis from solely the Dalhati Araf Specialist Hospital Lafia to secondary and primary healthcare centres via a public health approach.

“We have also activated a provider-initiated testing approach to increase access to screening services and integrate Hepatitis C diagnosis into the Genexpart platform for convenient testing.

“We also negotiated a substantial reduction in drugs for the treatment of the disease from vendors, thereby making them accessible and affordable.”

He further said the government is conducting a risk assessment study to understand the key drivers of viral hepatitis and to take measures to tackle the same.

Mr Gwamna added that the state government had deployed a team to carry out free hepatitis outreach in the 13 local government areas, “and the team is currently covering Doma, Karu, Wamba and Obi, where the prevalence is high.”

(NAN)