Uganda is getting ready to host a three day (3) first ever African Hepatitis Summit 2019 (AHS2019). The summit will be held from 18th-20th of June 2019 at Speke Resort Hotel and Conference Centre in Kampala.
Hepatitis B is an infection of the liver caused by Hepatitis B virus. It can be acute and self-resolving, or it can be chronic. The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is found in blood and bodily fluids and can be transmitted through semen, vaginal fluids, blood and it can be passed on to a newborn baby from the mother at birth.
Sharing needles and having unprotected sex can also increase the spread of Hepatitis B.
The summit is being organized by the Ministry of Health (MOH) in partnership with World Health Organization (WHO), the National Organization for People Living with Hepatitis B (NOPLHB) and Uganda Gastroenterology Society (UGES).
The AHS2019 will be held under the theme “Eliminating Viral Hepatitis in Africa; implementing the viral hepatitis strategy.”
The three day program will provide for a framework to achieve the intended ambitions against Hepatitis B virus. It is designed to strengthen the broader hepatitis community by sharing ideas, experience and best practice in addressing the many challenges of viral hepatitis in the region.
AHS2019 will bring together patient representatives, ministers of health, policy makers, civil society, international organizations, global funders and public health specialists under one roof to provide regional effects to tackle viral hepatitis.
The key speaker at the event will include among others, Brian J McMahon, MD at Medical and Research Director Liver Disease and Hepatitis Program Alaska, Homie Razavi MD at the Center for Disease Analysis Foundation, Theobald Owusu-Ansah, President of the Hepatitis Foundation of Ghana, Christopher K. Opio Department of Medicine College of Health Sciences, Makerere University.
Other speakers are Peyton Thompson, Prof. Ammal M. Metwally, Prof. Babatunde Lawal Salako, Envoh Emmanuel Okolo, Liudmyla Maistat and Sonjelle Shilton.
Meanwhile basing on 2018 report, Uganda is one of the highly endemic countries for Hepatitis B, with 52% life time exposure of the population, while 9 out of every 10 people in Uganda do not know their status.
According to the 2016 Uganda Population-based HIV Impact Assessment (UPHIA) Survey, prevalence of Hepatitis B infection among adults stands at 4.3% (5.6% among men and 3.1% among women).
The survey also indicated that Hepatitis B prevalence is highest in Northern region with 4.6% in mid North, 4.4% in North East and 3.8% in West Nile. Hepatitis B infection was lower in the rest of the country with a range of 0.8% in South West region to 2.7% in East Central region.
Uganda`s determination to fight Hepatitis B has been on for a while and the Ministry of Health even issued two statutory instruments to advance the fight. In 2015 the Ministry of Health started the vaccination of adolescents and adults against Hepatitis B virus disease targeting 17,636,153 people who are eligible for vaccination, according to the 2005 Sero Survey.
And hosting this year’s First Ever African Hepatitis Summit is a milestone in the fight of the dangerous viral Hepatitis B.
