Investigations conducted in Kolahun District reveal two major sicknesses said to be on the increase in ukambeh Administrative District in Lofa County.
Epilepsy and hepatitis B are the two are said to be seriously affecting citizens and residents of Lukambeh District according to the Lofa Eye Newspaper.
According to the investigations, victims of Epilepsy are found in all towns and villages in Hembeh Clan while epatitis B is very common in Lukasu Clan of the district.
When contacted, the Medical Director at the Kolahun Hospital the only referral medical center in the Gbandiland, Dr. Raphael Shamavu confirmed the increase wave of the illnesses in that part of Lofa County.
On Friday, May 13, 2022, at the Kolahun Hospital in Kolba City, Kolahun District, Lofa County, Dr. Shamavu told journalists that the hospital has a department for epilepsy and mental health which regularly supply medications to outpatients.
He used the occasion to encourage citizens of the district to please bring their patients to the hospital because there are enough medications there for them.
Dr. Shamavu said that many of the patients are not visiting the hospital perhaps because of the distance from the clan to Kolahun.
He said those regularly visiting the health center are often supplied with medications for months to allow them to go a long time with them.
He however noted that after the two-month treatments, the patient is to come for another supply because chronic sicknesses are difficult to cure.
He said that many at times, when the patient realized some improvement, they will refuse to return to the hospital for another treatment.
Dr. Shamavu is frowning at people who are still attributing the sickness epilepsy to witchcraft and other demonic powers noting that after several attempts to cure the disease through traditional means proves unsuccessful, they them take their patient to the hospital.
Speaking on the issue of Hepatitis B which he said is common killer in Lukasu Clan, Lukambeh District said “I have even conducted research on that, and I have the paper with me.
He added that in Kolahun, prevalence of Hepatitis B is very high among the population.
This is a sexually transmitted disease but not only through sex. It can be transmitted through sliver and sweat. So, you see that most of the people eating with one spoon, five to six people sleeping in one bed, and they all are sweating as well as in school.”
Dr. Shamavu noted that following the research which was published the Liberia Medical Association (LMD) Journal, the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Liberia invited him for further discussion.
He said that after their, the Ministry of Health decided to vaccinate only the health workers because to get vaccine for all citizens in the district was difficult. Therefore, the Ministry has decided to vaccinate all the health workers with three doses of the vaccine not only in Kolahun District, but the entire Lofa County.
He however regretted that the community is still suffering from the disease because majority members are not vaccinated.
The Kolahun Hospital Medical Director told this Paper that the good news is that the vaccines for hepatitis B are available and once you take it you cannot contaminated.
He put the cost of that at US$20 per dose and one is required to take three doses totaling US$60.
Epilepsy is a chronic noncommunicable disease of the brain that affects around 50 million people worldwide. It is characterized by recurrent seizures, which are brief episodes of involuntary movement that may involve a part of the body or the entire body and are sometimes accompanied by loss of consciousness and control of bowel or bladder function.
While Hepatitis B is a vaccine-preventable liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and it is spread when blood, semen, or other body fluids from a person inflected with the virus enters the body of someone who is not infected.
