Lira receives 180,000 Hepatitis B jab doses
Residents line up to test for Hepatitis B at Angwecibange Primary School Dokolo Town recently. Photo by Bill Oketch
What you need to know:
- Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease.
- Mr Aceka said confirmatory tests for those who had previously tested positive will be conducted at Amach Health Centre IV and Lira Regional Referral Hospital.
Lira. Lira District has received a consignment of 187,900 doses of Hepatitis B vaccines under the second phase of the programme.
Mr Edmond Aceka, the assistant district health officer in charge of maternal and child health while receiving the batch, said the vaccines will be distributed to health centre IIIs spread across the district, starting today.
“We had requested for 147,000 vaccines according to the number of testing kits we received two weeks ago. But fortunately we have been given 187,900 doses and 20 boxes of confirmatory testing strips from the National Medical Stores,” he said.
Mr Aceka said confirmatory tests for those who had previously tested positive will be conducted at Amach Health Centre IV and Lira Regional Referral Hospital.
He said the new consignment is for patients who missed out on the first phase, and urged those who have not tested for Hepatitis B to ensure that they utilise this opportunity and urged those who tested negative to vaccinate.
The virus
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease. The virus is transmitted through contact with the blood or other body fluids of an infected person. An estimated 240 million people world wide are chronically infected with hepatitis B (defined as hepatitis B surface antigen positive for at least 6 months). More than 686,000 people die every year due to complications of hepatitis B, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.
