Treat Hepatitis B early, cut liver cancer risk — Cerba Lancet

By Chioma Obinna

Health experts have warned Nigerians against ignoring hepatitis B, saying undetected and untreated infection can progress to liver cancer and other life-threatening complications.

The warning came at a community health education and free screening programme organised by Cerba Lancet Nigeria in collaboration with Mushin Local Government Area, Lagos, to commemorate World Hepatitis Day 2026.

The programme, held under Cerba Lancet Nigeria’s “Community Connect” Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, offered free hepatitis B screening, medical checks, health education, referrals and distribution of essential drugs, food and other relief materials to residents.

Speaking, Dr Olayemi Dawodu, Managing Director, Cerba Lancet Nigeria, said the initiative was designed to identify people who may be living with hepatitis B without knowing their status, and to support those requiring further care.

“We are giving out palliatives in terms of materials to support the citizens that have come through here. It’s not just about helping them with the knowledge of the disease and their current status; we will also be doing referrals to their secondary healthcare centres where they can get further management for those who may be positive,” Dawodu said.

She urged Nigerians to know their hepatitis status, stressing that vaccination remains an important preventive measure against hepatitis B.

“Know your status. Get your hepatitis B status, do the test and know whether you are positive or negative. If you are positive, there is management,” she said.

Dawodu said hepatitis B and C are viral infections that can be transmitted through exposure to infected blood and other body fluids, including through contaminated sharp objects, sexual contact and, in the case of hepatitis B, mother-to-child transmission.

“The worst long-term complication of untreated hepatitis is development of hepatocellular cancer, cancer of the liver” she said.

Dawodu said Nigeria still had “a large population” of people living with hepatitis B, but stressed that greater public education, advocacy, vaccination, screening and early management were required to reduce the burden.

“We still need to do a lot of work in terms of educating the population about this kind of disease and infections, whether it is by vaccination, and if somebody is infected, all the activities to prevent spread from one person to another,” she said.
She called for health education in local languages to enable communities understand the transmission and prevention of hepatitis B.
Also speaking, Temitope Ambrose Business Development and Marketing lead at Cerba Lancet Nigeria, said the choice of Mushin for the intervention was strategic because of the company’s longstanding connection with the area.
He said the programme was not a one-off CSR activity, noting that Cerba Lancet, as a healthcare laboratory provider, had responsibility to preventive healthcare.
giving to them now is for people to go out there and pay so much money, and now they are seeing it for free,” Semiu said.
He said healthcare remained a priority of the local government, adding that the council had continued to provide health services to residents through its health facilities and other interventions.
The programme also featured health education on hepatitis prevention, medical consultations, screening and referral of participants requiring further care as well as distribution of food and household items.