Tema, May 20, GNA -- Public health facilities in the Tema metropolis are yet to be supplied with vaccines by the Ministry of Health (MOH) to immunize residents against the hepatitis B virus. Dr Mrs Ernestina Mensah-Quainoo, Tema Metropolitan Health Director disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency on Wednesday in an interview. Dr Mensah-Quainoo however, stated that children in the metropolis were protected against the disease as the vaccine is included in the childhood immunization given to babies from birth to 11 months old. Health officials have encouraged the public to get immunized against the disease when tested negative, while those tested positive go for treatment.

Hepatitis B, which is a viral infection of the liver is said to be 100 times more infectious than HIV/AIDS and transmitted through body fluids. It is estimated that one out of every 12 persons worldwide is affected with the disease with Ghana having a prevalent rate of between 12 and 14 percent. The Directorate said a total of 127 people in the metropolis tested positive to the disease in 2008, while 34 cases have been recorded in the first quarter of this year. Dr Mensah-Quainoo advised the residents to take the preventive measures of HIV/AIDS serious as hepatitis B has a similar mode of spread as that of HIV