2023-07-28 14:50:41
In Benin, the large Cotonou hospital records “on average, two deaths per month due to hepatitis”. This July 28, World Hepatitis Day, the “Verified Facts” team deconstructs five misconceptions that can be misleading.
The alert from the hepato-gastroenterology department of the National University Hospital Center Hubert Koutoukou Maga (CNHU) should put an end to the dissemination of certain ideas about hepatitis, this liver disease. “In our hepato-gastro-enterology department at the CNHU, 2 out of 10 patients come for viral hepatitis B or C”informs Dr. Raïmi Kpossou, hepato-gastro-enterologist.
According to Raïmi Kpossou, he urges to be tested early to know his status. “They are referred to the service because they were discovered to have the disease during a screening when they had no signs”says Dr. Kpossou.
The World Health Organization (WHO) insist on “the importance of choosing hepatitis vaccination, screening for this disease, treatment, as well as curative services”, in order to avoid complications. This is why the WHO is raising awareness on hepatitis this July 28 through the theme: “One life, one liver”.
These ideas that kill
Before being admitted to care, most people with hepatitis are at a stage “complicated with cirrhosis or liver cancer, and we deplore an average of two deaths per month due to these diseases”, says the CNHU-Cotonou hepato-gastroenterologist.
The causes of late admission of these patients to the hospital could be ideas like: “hepatitis is a rare disease in Benin, there is no risk of contracting it”; “we must know that we have hepatitis, because we have yellow eyes or skin” or “hepatitis is not AIDS, we cannot be infected by sperm”;…
Ideas whose hepato-gastroenterologist, Raïmi Kpossou, demonstrates their falsity in this video:
#Faits #vérifiés #Hepatitis #misconceptions #kill