The House of Representatives has called for increased public awareness to help stop the virus’s spread while also ordering a probe into the country’s hepatitis outbreak.
The resolve to investigate the virus’s spread came after Kwamoti Laori (PDP, Adamawa State) made a motion at a plenary in Abuja on Tuesday.
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver brought on by a variety of infectious and non-infectious viruses, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
With five primary strains known as types A, B, C, D, and E, hepatitis can cause a variety of health issues, some of which can be lethal, according to Laori.
He claims that kinds B and C are deadly, producing acute and chronic illnesses in hundreds of millions of people. He also claims that they are the leading causes of liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, and fatalities from viral hepatitis.
According to the World Health Organization’s 2024 Global Hepatitis Report, the frequency of fatalities from viral hepatitis is rising, the lawmaker cited.
He claimed that as a result, hepatitis was now the second most common cause of mortality worldwide.
“WHO said this had led to an estimated 1.3 million deaths annually or 3,500 per day, similar to tuberculosis, a top infectious killer, with an estimated 345 million people living with the infection worldwide.
“The reports stated that the larger per cent of the global scorecard of infection is found in Africa, where it is estimated that about five to 10 per cent of the population suffered from chronic infection with hepatitis B virus,” he said.
Nigeria was said to have the highest prevalence rate of hepatitis B and C in Africa, which alarmed Laori.
“The report by the WHO and the Federal Ministry of Health suggested that more than 20 million people, representing more than 10 per cent of Nigeria’s population, are living with chronic infection of hepatitis B or C,” he said.
According to the congressman, a higher proportion of people were still at risk of contracting the virus or dying from it.
However, the House decided that children under five should be required to undergo testing, vaccinations, and treatment by the federal ministry of health and other pertinent organizations.
The MPs claim that this is done to ensure that safety regulations are followed in both public and private healthcare facilities nationwide and to stop the spread of the disease from mother to kid.
In order to guarantee compliance, the lawmakers also required its committees on Legislative Compliance, Information and National Orientation, and Healthcare Services.
The committees were instructed by the house to submit their reports for additional legislative action within three weeks.