Over 4 million Cameroonians susceptible to hepatitis - Study

The revelation was made Thursday, November 20, 2014, during a press briefing by the Minister of public health André Mama Fouda at the hotel la falaise in Yaoundé.

In our country, the prevalence of the hepatitis viral is at 10% for hepatitis B and 13% for hepatitis C, which is eight times more than that of carriers of HIV AIDS.

According to statistics of the World Health Organization (WHO), Cameroon is the second country after Egypt greatly affected by this disease. This is the reason for which the Minister of public health has indicated that the country to prioritize their fight against viral hepatitis.

In April 2012, a convention between the Hoffmann – La Roche laboratories and the Ministry of health in Cameroon, reduced substantially the price of interferon 159,000 to 104,000 Peglye FCFA bulb, a decrease of 33%.

In addition, a programme of capacity-building of doctors and nurses in the management of viral hepatitis was created. Theoretically, the overall costs of treatment of hepatitis virtually moved from simple to double. For Hepatitis C and B Delta, the treatment for a period of 12 weeks went from 5,468,000 CFAF in 2012 to 2,736,000 CFA FRANCS since November 2014.

While urging the Cameroonians to detect this early before it gets serious, André Mama Fouda invited non-carriers of viral hepatitis viruses (A, B, C, D, E) to be vaccinated.

As a reminder, viral hepatitis is inflammation of the liver most often caused by a viral infection.

It is usually caused by ingesting contaminated food or water (hepatitis A and E) or usually after a parental contact with contaminated body fluids.

The symptoms of hepatitis include: jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), dark urine, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.