Member activity: Burkina Faso

SOS Hépatites Burkina

As well as raising awareness on social media, SOS Hépatites Burkina engaged more than 1,000 people through a series of awareness-raising, testing and vaccination events.

With the support of its partners, the organisation held an awareness-raising caravan, starting at the town hall in Ouagadougou and criss-crossing through public spaces including markets and bus stations to improve public knowledge of viral hepatitis. Members of the caravan used eye-catching materials with the NOhep logo and messaging that tied into the World Health Organization’s 2020 World Hepatitis Day theme, ‘Hepatitis Free Future’. Their primary audience was women and mothers, and they emphasised messages about the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B. They also urged people to get tested for hepatitis.

Before the caravan, SOS Hépatites Burkina appeared on Burkina Info television to raise awareness of viral hepatitis and their WHD activities. They were also invited to speak on Radio Omega FM and were interviewed by RFI Mandingo.

In addition to their vast array of awareness-raising activities, the organisation also screened more than 100 people for hepatitis B and C and vaccinated more than 100 people against hepatitis B in July. They also took part in the WHA Virtual Relay – watch their video below:

Member activity: Nigeria

Beacon Youth Initiative

Beacon Youth Initiative (BYI) held hepatitis and sexual and reproductive health awareness and sensitisation events for more than 500 people in Azuba Bashayi and Sabon Pegi Shabu, Lafia, Nasarawa State. At these events, more than 200 women were tested for hepatitis B and C, and more than 50 were vaccinated against hepatitis B. This was the first time members of these communities had been given the opportunity to know their hepatitis status or to make decisions about accessing vaccination or treatment services.

A key focus of the event was to inform pregnant women of the need to be tested for hepatitis B to help prevent the mother-to-child transmission of the condition.

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, BYI took additional health and safety precautions, and sensitised the community about COVID-19 and the safety protocols they had put in place for their events.

In addition to their face-to-face activities, BYI also took to social media to raise awareness of viral hepatitis and World Hepatitis Day.

Elohim Foundation

On World Hepatitis Day, Elohim Foundation held an awareness-raising and testing event in the Hassan Dalhatu community, an urban community in Suleja, Niger State. The event focussed particularly on key populations within the community, including people who inject drugs, female sex workers and children who are out of school.

The event started with the dissemination of awareness-raising flyers and educational materials to sensitise the community about viral hepatitis, followed by an advocacy visit to the Emirate council.

After this, a welcome address was made by Elohim Foundation’s Programme Officer Okeke, Chinyere B., during which she commended Emirate council members, community representatives, the local health department, the State Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization for their support and attendance. This was followed by an informative presentation by Elohim Foundation’s director, Ibecheole Julius, who gave a detailed lecture on the different types of hepatitis, transmission methods, common signs and symptoms, prevention, treatment and vaccination. Members of the Emirate council and the community asked questions after the presentation.

Following the presentation and Q&A session, Elohim Foundation provided hepatitis testing and referred anyone who tested positive for hepatitis B on to further care and a comprehensive health check. They will use the data gathered through testing as an advocacy tool, to ascertain the prevalence of hepatitis within the community, and to further plan for prevention and treatment among identified key populations within the community. A total of 88 people were tested (64 men and 24 women), and 12 (13.6 per cent) tested positive and were referred for follow-up care. Due to economic factors, those who tested negative were not able to access the hepatitis B vaccine. Elohim Foundation have committed to doubling their advocacy efforts to encourage policy makers to dedicate more funding to hepatitis elimination.

LiveWell Initiative (LWI) and Women in Hepatitis Africa (WIHA)

Due to a government law forbidding any gathering of more than 20 people across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, LiveWell Initiative (LWI) and its subsidiary organisation Women in Hepatitis Africa (WIHA) hosted a webinar which was streamed to a socially-distanced in-person audience and to many people online. Sixty-six people attended LWI and WIHA’s webinar online and 20 women attended the face-to-face streaming of the webinar. The theme of the event was ‘Preventing mother to child transmission (PMTCT) by Finding the Missing Millions’ to reflect both the global theme of the WHA and the local theme of the African Hepatitis Alliance.

The in-depth event started with a live webinar which was streamed to a socially-distanced audience of women Hepatitis Champions who had been trained by LWI/WIHA the previous year. The webinar was also attended online by healthcare professionals, policy makers, patients, advocacy groups, and the general population.  Among the in-person attendees were indigenous women and women of the Riverine Makoko who had been transported to the venue by LWI in line with social distancing rules. The webinar had several speakers including a hepatologist, a gynaecologist, the founder of WIHA / CEO of LWI Bisi Bright and a family physician. It was a rich and eye-opening event. After the webinar, Mrs Bright travelled to the event venue and proceeded to donate food procured through LWI partner Flour Mills Nigeria PLC as a COVID resilience gesture to all attendees at the venue, after they had been screened for hepatitis and vaccinated.

Among the posters on display at the event were the African Women Hepatitis Poster titled ‘WE ARE MOTHERS…’ designed by the World Hepatitis Alliance and featuring low-income African Women, and a second Poster featuring high- and medium-income African women, created by WIHA.

The programme was very successful, and other subsequent screenings and vaccinations have been scheduled to continue at the LWI Health Post with social distancing measures. LWI plan to vaccinate at least 500 people over a period of three months due to COVID-19.

Member Activity: Sierra Leone

KnowHep Foundation Sierra Leone

KnowHep Foundation Sierra Leone found that the COVID-19 pandemic opened up new avenues for raising awareness of viral hepatitis.

They ran a successful social media campaign and appeared on a number of radio and TV talk shows. They also engaged a range of celebrities; their local TV station hosted a live online concert with famous singers, as well as two awareness-raising drama series featuring celebrities.

KnowHep Foundation’s founder and CEO, Dr Manal Ghazzawi, also spoke on a number of educational webinars, and recorded a video for the WHA virtual relay.

Three major community pharmacies in central and Eastern parts of the capital city, Freetown, offered screening and vaccination for hepatitis B, and a further 70 medical students were tested and vaccinated.

KnowHep Foundation also forged a partnership with the Sierra Leone Ministry of Health Hepatitis Task Force.

Member activity: South Africa

TB HIV Care

In partnership with SANPUD and WHA member the International Network on Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU), TB HIV Care hosted a World Hepatitis Day webinar to launch the ‘Connecting with Care’ South Africa film and to highlight the impact COVID-19 has had on efforts to provide health services to people who use drugs.

The ‘Connecting with Care’ film, which was previewed at INHSU Africa in February 2020 and has received first prize in the Political and Civil Support Category of the Global Coalition for Hepatitis Elimination video competition for 2020, explores the experiences of people who use drugs, particularly in relation to viral hepatitis.

The webinar provided an opportunity to hear first-hand from participants in the film, some of whom are experts in treating viral hepatitis (hepatitis B and C). In South Africa, people who use drugs are particularly hard hit by hepatitis, with one study finding that 45 per cent of people who inject drugs were living with hepatitis C.

TB HIV Care also participated in the World Hepatitis Day virtual relay, and posted across their social media channels.

Member Activity: Uganda

Great Lakes Peace Centre

Great Lakes Peace Centre (GLPC) spent World Hepatitis Day raising awareness and offering testing and hepatitis B vaccination. They partnered with Bwera General Hospital in Kasese district to host an event for 30 pregnant women, as well as a number of health workers.

GLPC’s Health Promotion Officer, Arafat Bwambale, explained what World Hepatitis Day is and why it is important, and raised awareness around the WHO theme ‘Hepatitis Free Future’. He also educated the group about hepatitis transmission, with a particular focus on the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of hepatitis B. The expectant mothers attending the event were given lots of advice to help reduce the risk of PMTCT. For example, they were advised to avoid giving birth at home with Traditional Birth Attendants, and to get vaccinated against hepatitis B.

During GLPC’s World Hepatitis Day events — which were attended by stakeholders including cultural and religious leaders and local officials — 230 people were screened for hepatitis and 220 were vaccinated against hepatitis B.

GLPC also raised awareness online, shared the #FindTheMissingMillions video at staff meetings and at a health facility, and hosted, presented and attended webinars.