Danat Foundation treats pregnant women, spouses for Hepatitis B, C in Plateau

From Jude Owuamanam Jos

About 10,500 pregnant women and their spouses are being screened and treated for hepatitis B and C in Plateau state by Azumi Ladi Danat Foundation.

The exercise is being undertaken in collaboration with the Centre for Initiative and Development (CFID) and the Plateau state government,

A cross section of pregnant women undergoing Hepatitis B and C screening and treatment at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Jos

According to the Chairman of the Foundation, Azumi Ladi Danat, the screening and treatment will be a continuous exercise lasting from August 2024 to July 2025 across the three senatorial zones of the state.

Danat told newsmen at the Plateau State Specialist Hospital where the screening and treatment is taking place that recent survey indicated that thousands of pregnant women are coming down with Hepatitis B and C.

She said that the essence of the exercise was to reach out to those women in the rural communities who have no access to affordable healthcare.

She said, “The recent screening we carried out in some communities in Plateau showed that many pregnant women have Hepatitis B and C and we have decided to treat them with to assistance of CFID and the state government.

“We also discovered that this number we are treating may be a tip of the iceberg when we collect data from more areas and that’s why we have decided to treat the women along with their husbands. The idea is to prevent a retransmission after to the victims have been treated.”

“We are using kits to screen l the pregnant women in the Plateau and those that have the infection, we are going to treat them after one month. When we have the data on a monthly basis we gather them and treat them.

She said that the opportunity was opened to her by a lady who took her on a trip to Portugal and USA for Hepatitis Summit and she decided to use the opportunity to bring the treatment down to her people on the Plateau.

“They asked me whether I will do it in Portugal or USA or take it to my people in Nigeria. I said I want to do it to my people on the Plateau and that’s why we are doing this today.”

She expressed gratitude to Governor Caleb Mutfwang for assisting the foundation with funds to purchase the drugs to treat to treat the women and their husbands.

“I would really appreciate the governor because he stood beside me. When I went to meet him pertaining this program he was so
excited and he told me that he’s going to get back to me and indeed he did it. And today that is why we are here.”