He also acknowledged that the commonest cause of liver cancer is Hepatitis B, which is very rampant nowadays.
Dr Cherno Jallow made this revelation on Thursday during commemorations marking Liver Disease Awareness Day held at the Medical School Conference Hall of Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital.
Organised by the National Gl and Liver Disease Center (NGILD-EFSTH), in collaboration with the Global Liver Institute (GLI) and other stakeholders, the event sought to raise more awareness and galvanise political support to help curb the growing trend of its complications in the country.
“So creating awareness about this disease there is no better time than now and it should be the responsibility of all to create more awareness on it,” he said.
As the main referral hospital in the country, he maintained, the EFSTH does not want to be left behind in anything dealing with liver cancer.
“So it is our battle as any other person but most importantly we have a bigger stake on it than any other person from diagnosis to treatment,” he recognised, saying there are plans to undertake some diagnostic services when it comes to liver cancer.
On the ground, he assured, they have a strong team working “very hard” in helping patients with liver disease both in supportive treatment and diagnostics.
Despite its complicated nature, Dr Jallow remains hopeful that with the trend they are taking in the health sector especially at the hospital, good developments are possible.
“A disease like liver disease which is commonest in adult male population, raising awareness of the disease is very paramount,” he reiterated.
Also speaking, Dr Sheikh Omar Bittaye, the NGILD- Clinical lead, recalled that they started the initiative four years ago, and paid glowing tribute to all those who played a part to this stage.
He also referred to the challenges they have encountered to ensure the vision and mission of the initiative does not die.
In the course of their effort, he noted, he has come in contacts with young people who had no other opportunity to live due to the advanced nature of their liver disease.
Some of these people actually died as the minimum chance of survival is thirty-five days, Dr Bittaye pointed out.
To this end, he underscored the importance of the commemoration designed to raise awareness and galvanise political support to curb the growing trend of this deadly cancer.
“Liver disease specifically liver cancer is a major problem in The Gambia,” he said. “It is the commonest cancer among Gambian men. And the medium age of these patients is actually forty years. And for female it is actually the third commonest cancer after breast and cervical cancers.”
To that end, he spoke about the hope but also the dilemma especially when dealing with some of these patients, adding that for the past ten years, he has seen more than 1000 young Gambian men who actually died of the disease.
These patients, he added, cut across all spectrum of society whether rich or poor, young and old, pointing out that it doesn’t spare anybody.”
He called for early screening to be able to manage it effectively, while also urging all to focus on universal precautionary measures.
Malick D.M. Manneh, assistant programme manager, National Hepatitis Control Programme (NHCP), underscored the vital link between chronic hepatitis infection and liver cancer, a leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide.
“Hepatitis, particularly HBV and HCV are a major risk factor for liver disease, especially hepatocellular carcinoma,” he said.
The relationship between hepatitis and liver cancer occurs due to the fact that both HBV and HCV chronic infections can cause long term infection of the liver, leading to chronic inflammation which later can result to cancer.
“Chronic hepatitis can lead to liver cirrhosis, a condition where scar tissue replaces healthy liver tissue,” Mr Manneh highlighted, saying: “This scaring impairs the liver function and increase the risk of developing liver cancer. Hepatitis infection can also result to direct carcinogenic effects and immune system evasion. All of these lead to development of cancer.”
