Hepatitis B causes 75% of liver cancer cases in Ghana – Experts
Hepatitis B infection accounts for about 75 per cent of liver cancer cases in Ghana, making it the leading cause of the disease and highlighting the urgent need to decentralise treatment services, liver disease specialists have said.
Dr Eileen Akonobea Micah, President of the Ghana Association for the Study of Liver and Digestive Diseases (GASLIDD), said Ghana continued to record one of the highest liver cancer burdens in Africa, with the disease claiming the lives of many people in their most productive years.
The Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) 2024, indicates that liver cancer is the second most common cancer among men in Ghana, after prostate cancer, and the fourth most common among women, underscoring its growing public health significance.
Dr Micah said this at the launch of World Hepatitis Day and the inauguration of a National Technical Working Group in Accra, held on the theme: “Hepatitis Elimination for Everyone, Everywhere, Right Now.”
She said evidence from several studies conducted across the country consistently showed that chronic hepatitis B infection was responsible for the majority of liver cancer cases.
She cited a 2021 study at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, which analysed patients attending the Gastrointestinal Clinic over a three-year period and found that three out of every four liver cancer cases (75 per cent) were linked to hepatitis B infection.
She said similar findings had been recorded in several other health facilities across the country.
Dr Micah expressed concern that many liver cancer patients were relatively young, with an average age of 45 years, depriving families and the nation of economically productive citizens.
She recounted the case of two brothers in their late twenties who died of liver cancer caused by hepatitis B within three months of each other, while two of their siblings, who were also living with hepatitis B, were currently receiving treatment.
She noted that many liver cancer patients were family breadwinners, and their deaths had significant social and economic consequences.
Dr Micah also identified late presentation at health facilities as a major challenge, saying most patients were diagnosed only after the disease had reached an advanced stage, leaving them eligible only for palliative care.
“Many survive for only three to six months after diagnosis because the cancer is detected too late for curative treatment,” she said.
She, therefore, called for the decentralisation of hepatitis B treatment services, similar to ongoing efforts for hepatitis C, to improve access to diagnosis and care nationwide.
Expanding treatment services to district and regional health facilities, she said, would help Ghana achieve the World Health Organization's target of treating at least 80 per cent of people living with hepatitis B and C by 2030, a key milestone towards eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat.
Dr Micah reaffirmed GASLIDD's commitment to working with the Government and the Ministry of Health to strengthen hepatitis prevention and control efforts.
She said the Association would continue to support initiatives aimed at improving linkage to care, expanding access to treatment, and training healthcare professionals in the prevention, diagnosis and management of hepatitis.
Health experts urged the public to undergo hepatitis B screening, receive vaccination where eligible, and seek early medical care to prevent chronic infection from progressing to liver cancer.
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver commonly caused by viral infections, excessive alcohol consumption or autoimmune diseases. The most common viral forms are hepatitis A, B and C, which affect the liver's ability to process nutrients and filter blood.
Hepatitis B and C are blood-borne infections that can become chronic and lead to severe liver damage if left untreated.
Common symptoms include jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), fatigue and pain in the upper right abdomen.
However, many people infected with the hepatitis virus experience no symptoms in the early stages.
GNA