July 25 (IPS) – July 28Day World Hepatitis Day is dedicated to the life and work of Nobel laureate Dr. Baruch Samuel Blumberg. Blumberg’s work led to the discovery of hepatitis B and the development of a vaccine to prevent infection with this contagious viral disease. This discovery revolutionized the public health response to prevent liver cancer caused by hepatitis B.
The hepatitis B vaccine has been used to save lives for decades. Babies are vaccinated at birth to prevent infection with the hepatitis B virus, and reduce the risk of chronic liver disease or liver cancer later in life. Thanks to the vaccine Blumberg helped develop, millions of people around the world are free from the fear and trauma of hepatitis B today.
About 95% of infants who contract hepatitis B will develop a chronic infection, and about a quarter of them will eventually die from liver disease. This is why infant immunization against hepatitis B is so important.
WHO recommends that all babies be vaccinated as soon as possible after birth, preferably within 24 hours, followed by 2-3 doses at 4-week intervals. This will protect your baby almost 100% against hepatitis B infection and prevent them from developing chronic liver disease or liver cancer later in life.
We applaud GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, national governments and other international partners for ensuring that many children worldwide, especially those in low- and middle-income countries, have access to the hepatitis B virus vaccine.
My children are also among those who benefited from this program and the Bloomberg study. They were vaccinated against hepatitis B at birth.
Not all babies are so lucky, especially in Africa, where vaccines are scarce, births are at home, and health systems are weak, preventing babies from receiving life-saving interventions within 24 hours of birth.
As of 2022, only 18% of African infants had received the hepatitis B vaccine at birth, compared to 90% in Asia, so more focused efforts are needed to protect the next generation of children worldwide.
I was never vaccinated against hepatitis B when I was born. In most countries in the Southern Hemisphere, birth vaccination was introduced relatively recently. I was also not vaccinated when I worked as a health care provider in a hospital. I should have been protected in the hospital, but that is where I got infected in 2004. Fortunately, I was diagnosed early, and I take medication every day to prevent liver cancer.
But despite Blumberg’s groundbreaking discovery, hepatitis remains a deadly disease. It still kills more than 800,000 people worldwide each year, and most are diagnosed too late, when liver disease has already progressed.
Today, as we celebrate Bloomberg’s birthday and World Hepatitis Day, we must ask ourselves why. We must ask why awareness of hepatitis remains so low worldwide. Why did this scientific breakthrough in the discovery of hepatitis B not lead to the eradication of the hepatitis B virus? Why were only 4% of people with hepatitis B diagnosed and only 2.2% treated? Why was there so little investment in mass testing and treatment programs to identify and treat the “missing millions” worldwide?
We must be clear that this is unacceptable, because delays in testing and treatment are likely to result in more liver complications that go unnoticed. To eliminate hepatitis by 2030, we must step up efforts to reduce mortality by 65%. This means expanding testing to find the undiagnosed population with hepatitis B and C, most of whom are unaware of their status.
It is a great shame that I contracted the virus in a hospital, a place where I should be safe and protected. This is the fate of many healthcare workers around the world and of babies who have not been vaccinated with the hepatitis B vaccine that protects them from infection.
Baruch Bloomberg would turn over in his grave if he knew that there are so many people who cannot access vaccines and treatments despite the availability of them due to lack of funding from governments and global donors! We owe him and his memory more.
The world community has an opportunity to turn off the tap of new hepatitis B infections and save millions of children and the world community from the fear of future liver cancer caused by hepatitis B. May this World Hepatitis Day be the day when we decide to honor Bloomberg’s memory not only with words but also with actions.
Danjuma Ada, MPHHe is the Executive Director of the Nigeria Initiative and Development Centre and a Senior Fellow at the Aspen Institute. He is the Chair of the 2024 World Hepatitis Summit and a past President of the Global Hepatitis Alliance.
© Inter Press Service (2024) — All rights reservedOriginal Source: Inter Press Service
