World Hepatitis Day: How Osahen Afenyo-Markin committed GH¢10 million to his Care Foundation to save lives in Effutu

For 36-year-old Angelina Mensah, life was once overshadowed by the fear that hepatitis B would claim her life and leave her two young children without a mother, just as the disease had taken her husband.

The resident of Sankor, a fishing community in Winneba, lost her husband in August 2024 after he succumbed to complications from hepatitis B at the age of 38. Today, however, she says she is optimistic about the future after receiving treatment and support that has helped both her and her youngest child overcome the disease.

Angelina tested positive for hepatitis B at the Winneba Municipal Hospital before becoming pregnant with her second child in 2023. At the time, she was unemployed and unable to afford treatment or the Hepatitis B immunoglobulin needed to protect her newborn at birth.

Like many expectant mothers in rural communities within the Effutu Municipality, the cost of the life-saving injection—about GH¢1,000—was beyond her reach. As a result, many women reportedly opted to deliver at home, increasing the risk of transmitting the virus to their babies.

Her circumstances changed after a nurse introduced her to physician assistant Israel Adorbely, Project Manager of the Afenyo-Markin Care Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to hepatitis B screening, vaccination and treatment in Winneba and surrounding communities.

Following the birth of her baby, the foundation assisted her in purchasing the immunoglobulin required for the newborn's vaccination. Today, both mother and child have recovered and are free from the virus.

Husband's struggle

Angelina recalled that neither she nor her husband initially suspected hepatitis B. She remained healthy and showed no symptoms, while her husband suddenly became seriously ill.

Believing his condition could be treated traditionally, the family relied on herbal medicine, but his health continued to deteriorate. As his abdomen became swollen and his legs enlarged, they concluded he had been afflicted spiritually and sought healing at a "Nakaba" church in Winneba, where he spent six months without improvement.

“Never did it occur to any of us to take him to the hospital since we were confused about the cause of his illness,” she recounted.

She said the Member of Parliament for Effutu, Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin, later intervened and arranged for her husband to receive treatment abroad, but by then his condition had become irreversible.

Unlike her husband, Angelina says she has benefited from a community health initiative that has enabled thousands of people diagnosed with hepatitis B in the municipality to access screening, treatment and vaccination.

Another life transformed

Another beneficiary, 56-year-old mason Moro Adam, also credits the programme with saving his life.

Mr Adam said he tested positive for hepatitis B on January 12, 2024, during one of the foundation's free screening exercises after experiencing persistent chest and abdominal pain that had previously been diagnosed as ulcers and hypertension.

“Luckily for me, the foundation put me on medication for six months, and when I went back for a liver function test later, I was told there was no detectable virus in my system, and I have ever since lived free,” he said.

Burden of hepatitis B

Although hepatitis B has no cure, effective treatment can suppress the virus and significantly reduce the risk of liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Osahen Alexander Afenyo Markin

The infection is commonly transmitted through unprotected sexual contact, from mother to child during childbirth, and through contact with infected body fluids, including blood, saliva, sweat, semen, vaginal fluids and urine.

Despite being preventable through vaccination, hepatitis B remains a major global health challenge.

According to the World Health Organisation, about 300 million people worldwide live with chronic hepatitis B, with viral hepatitis causing approximately 1.3 million deaths each year. Hepatitis B accounts for about 83 per cent of those deaths, while hepatitis C is responsible for the remaining 17 per cent.

In Ghana, the Ghana Health Service estimates that about 4.6 million people are living with chronic hepatitis B, with national prevalence ranging between eight and 12.3 per cent.

Within the Effutu Municipality, the prevalence rate is estimated at between 10 and 11 per cent, meaning roughly 11 out of every 100 people screened test positive for the infection.

Foundation's intervention

Mr Adorbely explained that the Afenyo-Markin Care Foundation was established after a hepatitis B prevalence study conducted in 2019 across eight rural communities in Effutu. The research, funded by Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin in collaboration with the Ghana Health Service, revealed alarming infection rates.

Osahen Alexander Afenyo Markin

He said that of just over 2,000 people screened, 189 tested positive, with about 90 per cent of those infected falling within the 18 to 36 age bracket, highlighting the scale of the problem among young adults.

The findings led to the launch of the HepaGuard project in 2023 to provide free screening, vaccination, treatment and public education on hepatitis B prevention.

With an investment exceeding GH¢10 million from the foundation's patron, the programme has so far screened and vaccinated more than 20,000 people who have completed the full three-dose vaccination schedule.

“What this means is that these 20,000 people are going to be immune from this disease and so they are not going to be infected, and with time, the prevalence rate is going to reduce in Winneba.

“What this means is that all the complications associated with hepatitis B are going to be reversed as in the case of Angelina and Mr Adam, and untimely deaths will be prevented,” Mr Adorbely said.