Persons with chronic hepatitis have four to five times higher risk of developing cancer than people who smoke a pack of cigarettes per day, the Minister of Health, Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, has said.

He, therefore, said treating hepatitis could reduce the risk of cancer by more than 80 per cent.

In line with that, the minister said the government was enhancing national efforts to combat hepatitis through prevention, testing and treatment, as well as awareness creation, to promote liver health and the general well-being of the public.

Mr Akandoh said this in a speech read on his behalf at a ceremony to commemorate the 2025 World Hepatitis Day celebration in Accra yesterday.

The event was organised by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) on the theme: “Hepatitis: Let's break it down.”

Situation

Mr Akandoh said chronic hepatitis infections due to hepatitis B and C viruses continued to affect adults, newborns and children who were particularly vulnerable to developing chronic hepatitis B when infected at birth or in early childhood.

To break the barriers to hepatitis services, he said every child must receive their hepatitis B dose within 24 hours of birth, and also integrate hepatitis testing and treatment into routine primary health care, including maternal health care.

“We must combat stigma and misinformation through public education and community-led engagements.

We must also protect people living with hepatitis from discrimination in health care and from employment and even within society at large,” the minister added.

He further said that the GHS would soon re-launch a Ghana Liver Hepatitis Fund to complement government funds to support primary health care as a way of sustaining a domestic financing mechanism.

Progress
A World Health Organisation (WHO) representative, Dr Fiona Braka, said in Ghana, nine per cent of the population were living with chronic hepatitis B and 2.3 per cent with hepatitis C.

She said that when unchecked, viral hepatitis could lead to liver cancer and premature death.

“We are particularly delighted that Ghana will be introducing the hepatitis C birth dose.

We are working with the Ghana Health Service to scale up access to testing and antiviral treatment resource mobilisation for the recently developed national strategic plan,” Dr Braka said.

She added that WHO was also supporting the introduction of the Hepatitis B dose vaccine and strengthening broader primary health care to ensure that no one was left behind.