Choke Liver Cancer
Project PINK BLUE is changing the way Africans think about cancer.
Every year over 4,300 Nigerians are diagnosed with liver cancer and over 4,200 of these patients die of this disease annually. Clearly, with 4,382 diagnoses and 4,252 deaths, only 130 patients survived liver cancer in 20221. Chronic hepatitis B and C are the leading causes of liver cancer in Nigeria. Painfully, 9 in 10 Nigerians who live with hepatitis B virus are unaware of their infection status and are not receiving treatment for the deadly virus2.
In many countries of the world, the hepatitis B virus vaccine is given to children and included in routine immunization programmes, in Nigeria, the vaccine was only introduced into the national routine immunization in 2004, leaving older generations unprotected from hepatitis. Hence, Nigeria is now one of the African countries with endemic hepatitis B infection, because people born before 2004 were not given the vaccine as infants. Presently, over 20 million Nigerians are living with hepatitis B, C, or both, and more than 80% of these people do not know their status2. The limited access to vaccines in Nigeria is also problematic. While the general population is at risk, people living with HIV have a higher risk of developing cancer in Nigeria.
On this premise, Project PINK BLUE launched the #ChokeLiverCancer initiative in 2024 to use awareness, screening and vaccination (ASC) to demystify the intersection of hepatitis and liver cancer in rural, marginalized and urban poor communities in Nigeria. We aimed to raise awareness, screened 2,000 people, and vaccinated 200 Nigerians in rural communities across Nasarawa, Niger states and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. #ChokeLiverCancer is supported by Aspire Coronation Trust Foundation.
Reference:
– International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, 2022
– Ajuwon, B. I., Yujuico, I., Roper, K., Richardson, A., Sheel, M., & Lidbury, B. A. (2021). Hepatitis B virus infection in Nigeria: a systematic review and meta-analysis of data published between 2010 and 2019. BMC infectious diseases, 21, 1-15.