Monday, 28th July, 2025
Hon Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin
Effutu
Mr Speaker, I thank you for this treasured space to make the Statement in accordance with the Rules of this House.
Mr Speaker, World Hepatitis Day is celebrated every year on 28th July, the birthday of Nobel Prize winner Baruch Samuel Blumberg, who uncovered the Hepatitis B virus and created the first vaccination. Hepatitis B is the inflammation of the liver which is caused by a number of factors, including autoimmune conditions, alcohol abuse and viral infections. “Hepatitis: Let’s Break It Down” is the theme for the year 2025 and it is a call to seek urgent action in order to get rid of systemic financial and social barriers, including the stigma of Hepatitis which restricts access to prevention, testing and the treatment of Hepatitis B or C. It is estimated that 304 million people live with hepatitis around the world and, out of this number, 1.3 million people die each year due to liver cancer or cirrhosis.
Mr Speaker, hepatitis is a major public health threat in Ghana and, approximately, 4 million Ghanaians live with hepatitis and are not even aware of it due to the lack of healthcare facilities, especially in rural areas. In some regions, the prevalence of Hepatitis C is much higher due to customs like sacrifices which may aid in the spread of the disease.
Initially, Mr Speaker, the viral hepatitis is usually silent. People may feel healthy while accidentally carrying and spreading the virus. They may only experience some symptoms like fatigue and jaundice after there has been a progression of the liver damage. Hepatitis B and C are the main causes of carcinoma in Ghana because chronic infection can result in a lifelong liver damage, cirrhosis and, ultimately, liver cancer. People are discouraged from seeking testing or care because of stigma, false information and myth such as the belief that hepatitis is solely caused by alcohol consumption or contaminated food. This keeps the cycle of delayed diagnosis and conceived transmission going. Public ignorance, limited access to low-cost diagnosis and treatment and uneven quality healthcare across regions, particularly in impoverished regions of our country, have all contributed to the situation in Ghana.
Mr Speaker, from the theme of this year, “Hepatitis: Let’s Break It Down”, it is clear that we must confront this. We must break down the walls of ignorance, stigma, inaccessibility and, above all, costs which continue to deny many citizens the opportunity to access proper diagnosis, care and treatment. Health equity, Mr Speaker, is not a luxury; it is a necessity.
The Effutu Experience: A Community that has moved into Action
Mr Speaker, in my own constituency, the realities of Hepatitis B are not distant. We have witnessed heartbreaking stories; mothers unable to afford immunoglobulin to protect their newborns and promising young people succumbing to liver failure, dying far too early. As a Member of Parliament (MP), I could not sit back and watch this trend continue.
In 2023, I commissioned a constituencywide health survey on Hepatitis B, conducted in partnership with medical professionals. The findings were deeply alarming, revealing elevated prevalence rates, particularly among youth and pregnant women. It became clear to me that the cost of inaction was far too high. In response to this crisis, we launched the HepaGuard Project, which has now become institutionalised as the AfenyoMarkin Care Foundation—[Hear! Hear!]—I personally supported this initiative with an initial commitment of GH₵1 million to facilitate screening and vaccination of the people of Effutu through this project.
Mr Speaker, this Afenyo-Markin Care started in 2023. Over 20,000 individuals have been screened and vaccinated in the Effutu Constituency. Hundreds of individuals have been initiated on treatment and dozens of newborns have received free Hepatitis B immunoglobulin to prevent mother-to-child transmission.
Mr Speaker, to consolidate these efforts, construction is currently underway for a dedicated Hepatitis B and Liver Care Centre in Effutu: the first of its kind in the region. Furthermore, every 27th of May, which also marks my birthday, has been designated as Hepatitis B Awareness Day in Effutu. Mr Speaker, while community efforts like these are commendable, they are not substitute for national policy action; more needs to be done.
The Broader National Picture
Hepatitis B continues to be a silent epidemic in Ghana. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), 254 million people live with chronic Hepatitis B globally, claiming over 1.1 million lives in 2022, largely from liver cancer as already stated. Sub-Saharan Africa carries a disproportionate burden. Over 91 million people in the region are infected and in 2019 alone, 125,000 deaths were recorded from Hepatitis B and C. Worse still, 90 per cent of those infected do not know their status and in every 30 seconds, someone dies from hepatitis-related complications. These are not just statistics; they are an urgent call to action.
Mr Speaker, here in Ghana, the statistics are no less sobering. According to the Ghana Health Service and WHO estimates, Ghana has an estimated prevalence rate of 12 per cent for Hepatitis B, with even higher rates recorded in some rural districts. It is further estimated that between 3 million and 4.6 million Ghanaians live with chronic Hepatitis B, often unaware of their status, as already stated so far. Worse still, up to 147 million newborns are exposed to the virus through motherto-child transmission – the leading cause of intergenerational Hepatitis B spread in Ghana. Infected mothers with high viral loads have a 90 per cent chance of passing the virus to their babies, many of whom go on to develop chronic hepatitis, irreversible liver damage or liver cancer.
The burden, Mr Speaker, falls heaviest on the vulnerable: pregnant women in rural communities, babies born into poverty and families who are unable to afford viral load tests, liver function tests or lifesaving birth dose vaccines like Hepatitis B Immune Globulin (HBIG).
Today, many pregnant women are still not routinely tested for Hepatitis B. Those who test positive are not supported with antiviral treatment to suppress the virus and newborns cannot access HBIG or birth dose vaccines. These essential interventions remain unavailable or unaffordable, as they are not covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). This is an unacceptable gap and this, Mr Speaker, is what we must break down. Yes, Ghana has made some important strides.
1. We have attained over 90 per cent infant immunisation coverage for Hepatitis B.
2. We have introduced free Hepatitis C treatment.
3. We have made antenatal Hepatitis B testing mandatory.
4. And we have developed a National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme (NVHCP) framework.
But frameworks and pilot interventions alone are not enough. Glaring gaps remain. As I speak, Ghana is yet to introduce the Hepatitis B birth dose vaccine or make Hepatitis B Immune Globulin (HBIG) freely available or subsidised. The result is that the poor are left behind and the virus continues its silent destruction. Too many Ghanaians are still dying from Hepatitis B, not because treatment does not exist, but because it remains financially out of reach.
Mr Speaker, I dare say that the time for national action is now. Mr Speaker, while community-based interventions are essential, they are not sustainable without national backing. The financial burden of Hepatitis B treatment remains a heavy load, particularly on lowincome Ghanaians. Antiviral medication costs between GH₵300 and GH₵600 per month, with full treatment courses running into the thousands. Over time, this becomes an impossible burden for most households, so most patients go untreated, not by choice but by circumstance. I reiterate a call I first made on this Floor in 2023: let us include Hepatitis B treatment under NHIS coverage. We have done it for certain chronic conditions. We can and must do it for Hepatitis B. Let us also:
1. Expand free community screening and antenatal testing.
2. Fund birth dose vaccine rollout and subsidise Hepatitis B Immune Globulin (HBIG).
3. Launch a national Hepatitis B awareness campaign to fight stigma and misinformation.
4. Equip every regional hospital with dedicated liver care services.
Conclusion: Let’s Break it Down Together Mr Speaker, the theme for this year, “Let’s Break it Down” is both a bold invitation and a national mandate.Indeed,
• Let us break the cost barrier through comprehensive NHIS support.
• Let us break the stigma barrier through national education.
• Let us break the access barrier through targeted rural investments.
• Let us break the silence barrier through evidence-led budgetbacked policy.
On this note, I call on this House, the Ministry of Health, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) and all health-sector stakeholders to not just recognise this day, but to take historic steps toward transforming Hepatitis B care in Ghana. Let us position Ghana as a leader on the African continent in the fight against viral hepatitis. Let us ensure that no child is born with this disease simply because their mother was poor and no adult dies silently for lack of affordable care. Let us break it down together and let us break it down for good.
Mr Speaker, on this note, I would like to thank you for admitting this Statement and to also thank Colleagues for indulging me. I am grateful and I hereby resume my seat.
Hon Anthony Mwinkaara Sumah
Nadowli/Kaleo
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement ably made by the Hon Minority Leader.
I would like to commend the Minority Leader for bringing this important matter before the House and commend the interventions he is making in Effutu to deal with Hepatitis. Today marks the day for Hepatitis and he has made very great interventions in his constituency. We are learning from what he has done. Unfortunately, we are not as resourceful as he is, so that we can put such interventions in place. As I speak now, in the Nadowli/Kaleo Constituency today, we are doing screening for Hepatitis B and C. It happened last year and we covered six communities.
Again, for the next three days: today, tomorrow and the day after, these interventions will take place together with the Liver Foundation. The challenge is that while we pay some attention to some chronic conditions, the issue of hepatitis has been left to the backburner. To cite an example, we are particularly interested in preventing mothers who are HIV positive from transmitting the virus to their children under the prevention of motherto-child transmission programme.
Similarly, children can pick hepatitis from their parents, yet at delivery the same level of effort is not put in to prevent the mothers from transmitting it to their children. So, it becomes a chronic thing in a particular family that all the children coming out of the family will turn hepatitis positive. Unfortunately, the interventions are quite expensive and left at the individual level, most people cannot. I think the call by the Minority Leader is something we should pay attention to. We should have some level of national attention on hepatitis, particularly in the rural areas.
Take my Constituency for example— Cultural practices, the way we treat corpse, share calabashes, communal eating et cetera makes the disease very prevalent. The results of the three days of test that was done in the Constituency was quite worrying and that is why this year again, we are in the Constituency doing same. A similar thing is happening in Daffiama-Bussie-Issa District and across the region, but we do not have a coordinated national effort.
I want to commend the Liver Foundation today because they have also put in some interventions in my Constituency to the extent of setting up a clinic that will be dedicated to dealing with hepatitis. But these are individual activities and interventions that are not coordinated and if you want to take the fight against hepatitis—Over 4.6 million Ghanaians have hepatitis. Had it been some other condition, probably it would have been making the news. Secondly, recently when we were talking about chronic diseases and medical transplant, unfortunately they eluded all of us that hepatitis has chronic levels where treatment is expensive and should be considered under the scheme.
Also, the National Health Insurance Scheme has not made provisions for such treatments. So, it is a clarion call and while I commend the Minority Leader for what he is doing so far, I think what he is doing should be rolled up at a national level so that people who have these conditions or are at risk of these conditions can get some help nationally to deal with the condition.
So, I thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to this Statement.
Hon Matthew Nyindam
Kpandai
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to also contribute to the Statement made by the Minority Leader.
I thank him for making such a Statement and commend him for the amount of money he has spent on his Constituency to educate and treat Hepatitis B or C. Mr Speaker, just like he said, GH₵1 million—This is unfortunate. Most of us will not have that capacity to establish such a foundation in our constituencies.
Mr Speaker, Hepatitis B, it is gradually becoming a household disease and we must all confront it head on. It is not out of place when he is calling on us to have a state policy on this particular chronic disease. Mr Speaker, the consequences, are so huge. If we want to count the deaths, the total number of persons that this particular Hepatitis B or C has taken away, it will surprise you. I therefore want to add my voice and by the end of this Statement, get the Minister for Health to look at how best we can finance this particular disease.
Mr Speaker, the most important thing that the Statement highlighted has to do with the testing and the viral load. If you go to the hospitals and they want to charge you, you will not pay less than GH₵2,000. Sometimes, when pregnant mothers get to the hospitals and they are unfortunately diagnosed and they have to assist the unborn child, they pay not less than GH₵1,000. How many of our rural folks can afford it? Like my Colleague from the other Side said, if looking at the way it spreads and how we live in our communities, we virtually eat together, drink together, and even during our funerals, the way we adore and hold corpses, it makes it so easier for it to be transmitted.
Mr Speaker, I want you to take a very keen interest in this particular Statement and at the end of the day, let us have a way out, else one day, if you take 10 people, eight will be having hepatitis, which is avoidable.
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to this particular Statement.
Hon Joseph Kwame Kumah
Kintampo North
Thank you Mr Speaker for the opportunity to have a bite on this Statement ably made by our Minority Leader.
Mr Speaker, I am scared for the broader national picture. I want to quote paragraph 9 and 10 to re-emphasise what has been indicated. “Hepatitis B continues to be a silent epidemic in Ghana. According to the World Health Organisation, 254 million people live with chronic Hepatitis B globally…” When we get to paragraph 10, it says that “…over 91 million people in the region are infected…” That is 2019 alone.
Mr Speaker, prevention we say is better than cure; the earlier, the better. We have nothing more to say than to quickly refer this issue to the Committee on Health for them to quickly let the Minister for Health let the public health authority engage in public advocacy so that we save our people. For lack of knowledge, our people perish. So, with speaker upon speaker buttressing these figures, should we wait for our people to finish? A lot of our people in the rural areas are farmers.
Mr Speaker, when we go on recess, we have to do thank you tours. When we get to some communities and the chop bar there has one cup for everybody to share and we are to share because you are with them. We are all involved, Mr Speaker. If we do not wake up to this call and treat this as a national security issue or a disaster, we are finishing. We are poor already and if the able-bodied people who are our farmers are to have this disease, then where are we? Our children are in schools, boarding houses. It is not easy.
Mr Speaker, please, I plead with you, make an urgent referral of this issue so that we save ourselves. Thank you very much for the opportunity.
Hon Emmanuel Kofi Ntekuni
Pru West
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to comment on the Statement ably made by the Minority Leader.
Mr Speaker, this is a very important Statement that as a nation, we must take seriously. Looking at the socioeconomic impact of Hepatitis B on the individual, the society, and then the country as a whole, it calls for urgent attention. Mr Speaker, as the maker of the Statement said, we have viral hepatitis and non-viral hepatitis. With the viral hepatitis, we have A, B, C, D and E, and the non-viral hepatitis; these are drug-induced, alcohol-induced hepatitis and autoimmune hepatitis.
Mr Speaker, the problem with hepatitis B and C, especially hepatitis B, is that it spreads faster than HIV. As we are talking about hepatitis B and C, it is important that we get to know the causes of these forms of hepatitis. It spreads basically just like HIV, through bloodborne activities like having unprotected sex, deep kisses with one partner having sores in his or her mouth, the sharing of items, especially the contaminated razors and brushes. These things are basically a problem in our rural settings, where affording some small amount to go and test to know one’s status is a big problem. Sometimes, through maternal care, they are able to detect it, but the money to buy the hepatitis B immunoglobulin to prevent mother-to-child transmission is a big issue.
Mr Speaker, I urge the Minister for Health to include the hepatitis B immunoglobulin in the NHIS so that when it is detected that they are positive during pregnancy, they can easily have access to it. This immunoglobulin is given right after birth. If a mother receives the immunoglobulin after 72 hours, it does not serve its purpose, because by that time, the virus might have crossed into the breast milk, and any child who takes or sucks the breast will get it. I thank you for this very important opportunity. Yes, those who are infected have already said everything. The medical care is a problem. When one goes for medical care, they are asked to go and do the viral load. They cannot go, and sometimes, they go once because every year, one has to do it so that they will be able to quantify the amount of the virus in one’s system and prescribe the antivirals. But the problem is the low settings. Are we able to afford these things? It is a big issue.
Mr Speaker, some of us have done the screening, and if you see the number of people who we did not even expect to have this kind of virus, it is so appalling. Just like the Minority Leader stated, I have made it a policy to also do the screening every year, so that those who will be detected will be managed. But another thing is vaccination. Getting access to the hepatitis B vaccination is another thing. It is costly, because one has to take it three times if one is not infected. But the people cannot afford these things.
Mr Speaker, seriously, we must include hepatitis B treatment and screening to the MahamaCare, to make it easy for the people to access. Thank you.
Hon Grace Ayensu-Danquah
Essikadu-Ketan
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank the maker of this Statement.
Hepatitis B is actually a very important public health concern in Ghana. Currently, we have about 4.6 million people in Ghana with hepatitis B, and that makes it 10.4 per cent of the population. It causes about 14,000 deaths every year, and hepatitis B and C are the ones that are infectious. They lead to liver diseases such as liver cirrhosis, where the liver is filled with fat and does not function, which eventually leads to liver cancer; it is the number one cause of liver cancer in Ghana.
Mr Speaker, hepatitis B is a sexually transmitted disease. Hepatitis B is spread by blood and bodily fluids. The solution to the hepatitis B problem is public health education. The people who are promiscuous need to be educated. Most people who have the chronic type of hepatitis, especially, do not even know they have it, and a lot of people, the prevalence and the incidence in Ghana are very high.
But luckily, Mr Speaker, it was one of the problems that we had discussed in the NDC Manifesto, and the solution to the hepatitis B problem would be the free primary health care. Currently, children are getting the hepatitis B vaccine in the pentavalent vaccines. So, they get it at six, 10 and 14 weeks. Currently, once the free primary health care programme is rolled out, we will be giving the birth dose at the beginning of 2026.
So, the NDC Government, under the visionary leadership of John Dramani Mahama is working on the problem. The problem has been identified. The problem has been identified. We are on course to bring the birth dose vaccine, which is for the children who are immediately born. The infants, the newborns, will be receiving a dose at the beginning of 2026.
Once the free primary health care programme kicks in, we will do national surveillance. We will add the hepatitis B vaccine for adults. We will continue public education, and those who are found to have hepatitis B will be included in the free primary health care package.
Hon Jerry Ahmed Shaib
Weija-Gbawe
Mr Speaker, I thank you very much for this opportunity.
Mr Speaker, let me take this opportunity to also thank the maker of this Statement, Osahen Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin. This Statement comes at the right time. And for me, we need to consider what is more important at this stage, which is the preventive care. Growing up, I have always heard people say that prevention is always better than a cure. And that is why, for me, this Statement is profound.
Mr Speaker, I would just make reference to the Effutu experience, where the maker of this Statement personally had to support the initiative with an initial amount of GH₵1 million.
Mr Speaker, obviously, most of us here may not have the resources to do that, but we should also be encouraged ketewaa biara nsua to wit, we can pay little by little and get to that level. Over 20,000 individuals have benefited from this screening through vaccination, especially in the Effutu Constituency. Where we have the maker of this Statement, who has also conceded to consolidate this effort by constructing a hepatitis and liver care centre in Effutu, Mr Speaker, for me, I think that this is worth commending. I am looking at the preventive side, which is, for me, abbreviated into SICI: Stigma, Inaccessibility, Cost and Ignorance.
If we are looking at the stigma, what we need to do is to consider a more comprehensive education on hepatitis. I do not think that is just a matter of promiscuity; it also boils down to knowing what one has to do and not to do, including vaccination. If we are able to take this up and let people understand that the fact that one has hepatitis is not a reason for one not to seek proper cure and care, then we are moving somewhere.
Mr Speaker, the issue of inaccessibility; there are a lot of people out there who may never have heard of hepatitis. They do not know how to even reach out and how to get the necessary cure and vaccination, so if we are able to take this up, I am sure we can get somewhere. Then is the issue of cost; what are we doing with the expenses involved? Are we in a position to get the submission made by the maker of this Statement that Government through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) should now respectfully consider taking the cost, bearing the cost for people who are unable to take care of this? If we are able to do so, a lot of Ghanaian lives, especially the babies, will be saved.
Mr Speaker, I think that there is the need for us to focus on what the current situation is. My Colleague just said we have about 4.6 million people who are suffering from hepatitis. How can we stop hepatitis? How can we break it down? Let us all come together, irrespective of where we stand or we sit, or whichever party colour we follow. Let us appreciate that hepatitis should be the thing of the past. Let us help in preventing hepatitis.
Let us start now; we should start from our homes. We should start from educating our children; we should start with educating people who are nearer to us. Let them understand that hepatitis can also kill. It can affect our liver; it can take lives as much as possible. Mr Speaker, with that, I am sure we can move forward as a nation and have a lesser number of people suffering from hepatitis and at most, have it removed from this society called Ghana.
Mr Speaker, thank you very much, for this opportunity.
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