The World Hepatitis Alliance, WHA, has said Nigeria is unlikely to achieve net testing of 90% of her population for Hepatitis B and C before the 2030 benchmark set by the deed of the Global Health Sector Strategy, GHSS, which the country is a part of.
It also said global funding inadequacy for viral hepatitis would be a contributory factor to achieving this feat.
President of WHA, Danjuma Adda, spoke weekend, in Jalingo, Taraba state capital, during the commemoration of World Hepatitis day.
According to him, "Nigeria might achieve prevention if we scale up vaccination, but as for testing and treatment, by 2030 it might be a very tall dream to achieve.
"Nigeria has a population of about 200 million people, and we are looking at 90% reduction in incidence and 65% in mortality.
"The government of Egypt has screened over 60 million of its population, Rwanda and Uganda has screened almost everybody, but with political commitment nothing is impossible."
He also urged Nigeria government to announce a dedicated budget for hepatitis, adding the epidemic remains one of the fastest killer diseases across the world, especially Liver damage.
Earlier, Taraba state commissioner for health, Dr. Bodia Buma, pledged the state government's commitment to further support activities aimed at reducing prevalence of viral hepatitis across the state.
