About 250 residents of Abeokuta metropolis, the Ogun State capital, yesterday underwent a free voluntary viral hepatitis infection test screening carried out by the Gastroenterology and Hepatology unit of FMC in Abeokuta.
Worried by the “limited global progress” in addressing the scourge of hepatitis viral infection, Dr. Adegboyega Rilwan Omogbolahan, President of the Federal Medical Centre (FMCA), Abeokuta chapter of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), urged Nigerians to undergo hepatitis screening.
Describing the viral infection as a silent killer, Adegboyega explained that the voluntary hepatitis infection screening became necessary considering the low level of awareness, under-reporting, under-diagnosis, as well as the under-treatment of hepatitis B and C in the country.
Over 250 beneficiaries of the free hepatitis screening were principally focused on men and women at the Odo-Eran Market on the Obantoko axis of the Odeda Local Government Area of the state. At the same time, infants in the same market were also vaccinated.
It was also sponsored by a medical outreach organisation co-founded by Adegboyega himself, a Senior Registrar in the Cardiothoracic and vascular surgery unit of FMCA, and Dr. Festus Oluseye Babarinde of Johns Hopkins University in the United States of America (USA), under the Babarinde-Adegboyega ARD (BAARD) Concept.
The exercise was jointly hosted by top management of the FMCA in collaboration with the Ogun State government, under the supervision of the unit head, a consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist of the health facility, Dr. Opeyemi Owoseni.
Speaking with journalists during the screening exercise, Adegboyega explained that the medical outreach was part of the efforts to sensitise Nigerians to the precarious nature of Hepatitis B and C infection and the need to get tested.
The FMCA’s ARD President, who spoke on behalf of BAARD Concept, further disclosed that about 20 million Nigerians were estimated to have been infected with the Hepatitis B virus, with about 2.2 million others estimated to have been diagnosed with the Hepatitis C virus.
