About three out of every four liver cancer cases diagnosed in Ghana are linked to chronic hepatitis B infection, a Gastroenterologist, Dr Eileen Akonobea Micah, has disclosed.
She said most patients who developed the disease were often in their productive years, with the majority reporting to hospital only after the cancer had advanced, leaving them eligible for palliative care that prolonged life by only three to six months.
“These are people in the prime of their lives. Many are breadwinners whose deaths leave devastating emotional and economic consequences for their families and the nation,” Dr Micah said, recounting a recent case of two brothers in their late twenties who died of liver cancer three months apart, while two of their siblings, are also living with hepatitis B and currently receiving treatment.
She was speaking to The Ghanaian Times on the sidelines of the commemoration of World Hepatitis Day (WHD) in Accra on Tuesday.
Observed annually on July 28, World Hepatitis Day seeks to raise awareness of viral hepatitis, one of the leading causes of liver cancer and liver-related deaths globally.
This year’s theme: ‘Hepatitis: Let’s Break It Down,’ calls on countries to remove the barriers preventing people from accessing life-saving hepatitis prevention, testing and treatment services.
According to Dr Micah, Ghana has one of the highest rates of liver cancer in Africa.
She cited data from the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) 2024, which shows that liver cancer is the second most common cancer among men in Ghana after prostate cancer and the fourth most common among women, underscoring the need for intensified screening and early treatment.
The President of the Ghana Association for the Study of Liver and Digestive Diseases (GASLIDD) called for the decentralisation of hepatitis B treatment, similar to the model adopted for hepatitis C, to improve access to care and help Ghana achieve the World Health Organisation (WHO) target of treating at least 80 per cent of eligible hepatitis patients by 2030.
She further urged the public to know their hepatitis B status through regular screening, warning that the infection often presents no symptoms until severe liver damage has occurred.
“Early diagnosis and treatment remain the most effective means of preventing liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and premature deaths associated with hepatitis B,” she advised.
Viral hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that can lead to chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancer.
There are five main types of viral hepatitis—A, B, C, D and E—with hepatitis B and C accounting for the majority of chronic infections.
Common symptoms include fatigue, fever, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, dark urine, pale-coloured stools, joint pain and jaundice, although many infected persons may not develop symptoms until the disease has advanced.
Viral hepatitis is commonly transmitted through contact with infected blood or other body fluids. Safe and effective vaccines are available to prevent hepatitis A and hepatitis B.
BY ABIGAIL ANNOH
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