July 2021

MONDAY HEALTH BURST

#ViralHepatitis, Viral Hepatitis /

Signs and symptoms of Hepatitis

You may be surprised that a lot of persons even with the emergence of the spread of hepatitis are still oblivious to this viral infection. In Nigeria, about 15 million people are unaware that they are infected with hepatitis. Some still believe it to be an illness of the bourgeoisie in the society and so are immune. However, this is not the case.
Viral hepatitis is responsible for over 1.34 million deaths each year, more than HIV/AIDs, Malaria or Tuberculosis. It is also responsible for two of every three liver cancer deaths according to World Health Organization.
Different types of viral hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E are caused by a different type of virus. Hepatitis A Virus (HAV) is always an acute, short-term disease, while Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), C (HCV), and D (HDV) are most likely to become ongoing and chronic. Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) is usually acute and is considered particularly dangerous in pregnant women.
Unlike the infectious forms of hepatitis that are chronic and whose symptoms do not appear in the beginning until the damage affects liver function, like hepatitis B and C, the symptoms of the acute forms of hepatitis do appear quickly and they include: fatigue, flu-like symptoms; dark urine; pale stool; abdominal pain; loss of appetite; unexplained weight loss; yellow skin and eyes among others.
A lot of persons die slowly from chronic hepatitis because its symptoms are often too subtle to notice but with regular checkups, proper vaccination and timely treatment, we just could outsmart this silent killer.
Join us next week on Monday Health Burst for more interesting episodes.

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SPEAK WEDNESDAY

Gender Based Violence, Speak Wednesday /

SPEAK STORY

Have you ever wondered why a lot of women and mothers, in particular, are forced to put up with the ills around them despite the harm it could cause or causes them???

In today’s Speak Wednesday we would talk about the inhumane condition a mother is forced to condone, if help is not forthcoming, this may be her fate for the rest of her life and her children.

CFHI has been privy to the knowledge of a mother of four girls (Name withheld) within the environs of Abuja who is married to a businessman for over 15 years. This mother who has had her own fair share of misfortune in life is forced to live with her husband who for most of their marriage sexually abuses his children (four daughters).

According to the mother, for as long as she can remember, her husband has been abusing their four daughters sexually, and all attempts to stop him have proven abortive. She claims to have reported these atrocities to the police on several occasions, but after the husband is apprehended, he is released afterwards when he bribes the police officials. In her own words, which is paraphrased “I no longer seek their help or anyone’s but have left all to fate to take its place in my life”.

This mother reportedly has sought the help of the elders in her hometown, has even travelled to her hometown for the elders to call her husband to order, instead, the intensity of his abuse increases every time she returns to Abuja.

One may ask why she wouldn’t just leave him. Truth is, on the occasions she had tried, she realized that the burden of fending for her children and herself was unbearable with utterly no means of livelihood and no financial support from anywhere.

This story is disheartening because this is just the case for so many other women out there. The cycle of abuse normally leaves women with no money and nowhere to go because oftentimes, they are fully dependent on men to provide for their every need. This is why the need for women to be financially literate so that they can stand for themselves when all odds are against them can never be overemphasized.

Over the years, CFHI has provided thousands of women small grants to start-up businesses that can make them financially independent. Join us every Wednesday on all our social media platforms for more episodes of Speak Wednesday.

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