Ghanaian liver specialists say hepatitis B infection is responsible for about 75% of liver cancer cases in the country, warning that treatment must be made available beyond major hospitals.
Dr Eileen Akonobea Micah, president of the Ghana Association for the Study of Liver and Digestive Diseases (GASLIDD), said Ghana continued to have one of the highest burdens of liver cancer in Africa.
She said the disease was killing many people during their most economically productive years, placing a heavy burden on families and the wider economy.
The Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN) 2024 identifies liver cancer as the second most common cancer among men in Ghana, behind prostate cancer. It is the fourth most common cancer among women.
Dr Micah was speaking in Accra at the launch of World Hepatitis Day and the inauguration of a National Technical Working Group. The event was held under the theme: “Hepatitis Elimination for Everyone, Everywhere, Right Now.”
She said research carried out at health facilities across the country had repeatedly shown that chronic hepatitis B was the main cause of liver cancer.
A 2021 study at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital examined patients attending its Gastrointestinal Clinic over three years. The research found that hepatitis B was associated with three out of every four liver cancer cases.
Dr Micah said similar results had been reported at a number of other health facilities in Ghana.
She also raised concern over the age of many patients, saying their average age was about 45. The early deaths of people at that stage of life deprived families of breadwinners and the country of members of its productive workforce.
To illustrate the impact of the disease, she described the case of two brothers in their late twenties who died from hepatitis B-related liver cancer within three months of one another. Two other siblings, who were also living with hepatitis B, were undergoing treatment.
Late diagnosis was identified as another major obstacle. Dr Micah said many patients only sought or received care after their cancer had reached an advanced stage, when curative treatment was no longer possible and palliative care was the only option.
“Many survive for only three to six months after diagnosis because the cancer is detected too late for curative treatment,” she said.
Dr Micah called for hepatitis B treatment to be decentralised in the same way that efforts are being made to expand hepatitis C services. She said providing diagnosis and treatment at district and regional hospitals would improve access for patients across Ghana.
The move would also support Ghana’s efforts to meet the World Health Organization’s 2030 target of treating at least 80% of people living with hepatitis B and C. That target is considered an important step towards eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat.
GASLIDD, Dr Micah said, remained committed to working with the Government and the Ministry of Health to improve hepatitis prevention and control.
The association would continue supporting better links between patients and healthcare services, widening access to treatment, and training healthcare professionals in hepatitis prevention, diagnosis and management, she added.
Health experts urged members of the public to be screened for hepatitis B, take up vaccination when eligible and seek medical advice early.
Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver and can be caused by viral infections, excessive alcohol consumption or autoimmune disease. The most common viral forms are hepatitis A, B and C, all of which affect the liver’s ability to process nutrients and filter blood.
Hepatitis B and C are blood-borne infections. If untreated, they can become chronic and cause serious liver damage.
Possible symptoms include jaundice, which causes yellowing of the skin and eyes, tiredness and pain in the upper-right side of the abdomen. However, many people with hepatitis do not experience symptoms during the early stages of infection.
