The Ghana Health Service in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other health partners launched the Free Hepatitis C Treatment Program. One objective of the project is to raise awareness and increase public support for the project. It is designed to reach all corners of the country, from the biggest cities to the smallest villages, to ensure that everyone is aware of the disease and knows how to get tested and treated.
The Director General of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye in his welcome to the program stated that the purpose of the launch was to stop Hepatitis C in Ghana. He said this is a celebration of the first step in making effective hepatitis C drugs available to Ghanaians at no cost, ensuring that all who need treatment can access it. The Director General used the opportunity to thank the Arab Republic of Egypt for supporting the project. He stated that Ghana and Egypt have had very good relations since the 1950s, from which the country continues to benefit in terms of education.
Dr. Kuma-Aboagye further emphasized that Ghana has been battling Hepatitis C for a long time due to inadequate medication. He therefore expressed his gratitude to the Egyptian Ambassador and the Egyptian government for the intervention. He said Ghana will draw on the Egyptian experience during the partnership until Ghana succeeds in eradicating Hepatitis C. Dr. Patrick Kuma-Aboagye concluded his speech by again acknowledging the Government of Egypt for the continued support to the country with the Covid-19 vaccines.
Hon. Mahama Asei Seini, Deputy Minister of Health who read a statement on behalf of the Minister of Health, Hon. Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, noted that viral hepatitis remains a major public health problem in Ghana and continues to affect many Ghanaians. He stated that in 2021, Ghana had the support of the Global Hepatitis Eradication coalition led by Professor John Ward to better understand the epidemiological picture of the disease and the availability of facilities for its diagnosis. The study also found the financial burden on families. He stated that he was very happy to learn that the Arab Republic of Egypt had more problems with hepatitis C, but is on the way to eliminating hepatitis C through the application of new generation drugs called Direct Acting Antivirals. He revealed that by 2019, the country had sought to expand medication to help one million Africans be treated for hepatitis C. This led to the creation of the President’s Initiative to Treat One Million Africans with Hepatitis C. The Deputy Minister in his statement also expressed gratitude to the government and people of the Arab Republic of Egypt through the Ambassador, for their very kind gesture which he believes will continue until they can achieve the initial target of treating 50,000 patients.
For his part, the Egyptian Ambassador to Ghana HEA Mahmood Youssef in a speech noted that in 2014 Egypt launched an aggressive screening and treatment program that evolved into a national strategy to eliminate HCV as a public health threat by 2021. He cited the five key elements that contributed to Egypt’s successful HCV elimination program, which include: sufficient and reliable epidemiological data to quantify and monitor public health threats, a strong public health care infrastructure, inclusive care that reached all sectors of society, political commitment to public health through increased health spending and a comprehensive long-term national control strategy and innovative scientific research and use of informatics. Giving details, the Ambassador said in 2021, President AL-Sisi launched the initiative to treat one million African citizens for Hep C in 18 African countries and Ghana is among the first beneficiary countries.
The Ambassador concluded his speech by saying that half of the world’s population still suffers from a lack of access to basic and adequate health services, which affects efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)3. He urged development partners to work towards finding solutions for a better life for all citizens and promote primary health care as a basic human right for a dignified life, which universal health care efforts can only achieve through access to medicine and health technology.