Lanre Omotoso
Nigerians have been urged to desist from sharing sharp objects and multiple sex partners in order to avoid liver disease.
A Medical Doctor with Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, Abimbola Adeosun made the appeal in an interview with Radio Nigeria Progress FM reporter in commemoration of this year’s World Hepatitis Day.
Dr. Adeosun said fluid contact with infected person, too much alcoholic intake, drug abuse, eating contaminated food and unsafe blood transfusion could result to inflammation of the liver.
The medical doctor emphasized that hepatitis virus had the ability to survive outside body fluid for more than six months, hence the need to avoid used blade and other sharp objects.
Dr. Adeosun stressed that anyone experiencing fever, extreme tiredness, loss of appetite and urge to vomit should seek urgent medical attention.
He also identified symptoms of hepatitis to include abdominal, body and joint pains as well as dark coloured urine, pale stool, body itching, yellow eye and skin.
While calling for early tests and treatment, the medical doctor emphasized that if not resolved within six months, it can lead to cancer, shrink and failed liver.
Speaking on the theme of this year’s Hepatitis Day, “It is time to take action”, the medical doctor stressed that over three hundred million people suffer from the disease worldwide, while it killed more than one point three million people annually.
World Hepatitis Day is observed on July 28 every year to raise awareness about the disease, encourage actions and the World Health Organization aims to achieve hepatitis elimination by 2030.
