At present, we’re going to be Hepatitis B and the Price of Treating Hepatitis B in Nigeria.
What’s Hepatitis B?
Hepatitis B is a illness that we tend to underestimate its results and potential lethality; it’s a illness that we should always not take calmly as it’s harmful. Hepatitis is a illness brought on by a virus that impacts the liver and if left uncontrolled may hurt the liver significantly. It’s of three sorts specifically: Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C.
The attention-grabbing truth is that there isn’t a particular treatment for the hepatitis B virus. It normally goes away by itself in about 4- 8 weeks. Official studies present that Greater than 9 out of 10 adults who get hepatitis B get better from it with no further remedy.
Nevertheless, although, about 1 in 20 individuals who get hepatitis B as adults turn out to be “carriers” of the virus which means they’ve a long-lasting hepatitis B an infection that they may carry for the remainder of their lives. These Carriers possess the potential to cross hepatitis B to different uninfected individuals. Virtually all carriers are contagious and in case you are a service or stay close to one, warning is suggested as a result of they will unfold the hepatitis B virus for the remainder of their lives.
These continual Hepatitis B infections could result in very severe liver ailments like cirrhosis and most cancers of the liver. One in 5 those that possess the continual pressure of the hepatitis B die from it. Nevertheless, don’t panic but, there are medicine which were developed to assist deal with and mitigate the results of the continual pressure of the hepatitis B virus.
On a basic observe, infants that occur get hepatitis B throughout start will develop the continual pressure, except the newborn is handled proper instantly. Please observe that these therapies are only if they’re given to the newborn rapidly. This is among the many the reason why antenatal care advisable for pregnant girls as a result of in antenatal care, the ladies are examined for Hepatitis B an infection.
Nigeria has a inhabitants of over 200 million individuals and has a Hepatitis B prevalence of 10.1% primarily based on a current report by the Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impression Survey (NAIIS). The NAIIS had a Nationwide household-based Survey that assessed the prevalence of HIV and associated well being indicators together with the nationwide prevalence of an extra blood-borne virus: the Hepatitis B virus. As a consequence of this report, it provides us an estimated variety of about 20 million Nigerians residing with the Hepatitis B virus.
Price of hepatitis B administration in Nigeria
The price of Hepatitis B in Nigeria, categorized by the nationwide financial burden and the precise value of remedy for sufferers:
1. Nationwide Financial Burden (Annual Price)
In response to Dr. Godwin Ntadom, Director of the Public Well being Division on the Federal Ministry of Well being (FMOH) and report from the World Well being Group (WHO) on July 2025:
The Actual Price of Treating Hepatitis B in Nigeria
To know how heavy the monetary burden of Hepatitis B is, we now have damaged down the prices into three clear classes primarily based on current analysis. It’s not nearly shopping for drugs; it includes hospital payments, transport, and even the cash you lose once you can not work.
1. The Hospital Payments (Direct Medical Prices)
Estimated Price: ₦1,413,090 (approx. $933) per yr
These are the charges you pay on to the hospital or pharmacy to maintain the virus underneath management. This quantity covers:
Registration & Session: Paying in your hospital card and seeing the physician.
Drugs: Shopping for antiviral medicine and dietary supplements to guard the liver.
Important Assessments: Paying for costly however obligatory investigations just like the Viral Load take a look at (HBV DNA) to depend the virus, liver perform assessments, and belly scans.
2. The “Hidden” Bills (Direct Non-Medical Prices)
Estimated Price: ₦202,215 (approx. $133) per yr
Remedy doesn’t occur in a vacuum. These are the out-of-pocket bills that folks usually overlook to calculate however nonetheless take cash out of your pocket. They embrace:
Transport: The price of transport fare or gasoline to get to and from the clinic for each appointment.
Feeding: Shopping for meals whereas ready on the hospital.
Caregiver Prices: The cash spent by members of the family who should journey with you or stick with you throughout remedy.
3. Cash Misplaced Resulting from Sickness (Oblique Prices)
Estimated Price: ₦640,095 (approx. $421) per yr
That is the “alternative value” of the illness—cash you would have made when you have been wholesome.
If you’re a wage earner, that is the earnings misplaced from lacking work as a result of fatigue or hospital admission.
If you’re a enterprise proprietor or dealer, that is the revenue you miss out on since you couldn’t open your store or go to the market as a result of illness.
The Grand Whole
Whole Estimated Price: ₦2,255,400 (approx. $1,487) per yr.
Once you add all of it up, managing Hepatitis B prices over 2 million Naira yearly. For the common Nigerian household, this quantity is a large monetary burden. Sadly, this excessive value is sufficient to push many households into poverty as they battle to save lots of the lifetime of a cherished one.
Affected person Price for Hepatitis B Remedy in Enugu Nigeria (Immunoglobulin)
In response to the examine revealed in BMC Being pregnant and Childbirth (2025) concerning Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin (HBIG) in Enugu Nigeria—a crucial remedy to forestall mother-to-child transmission:
Price per Dose: The market worth for Hepatitis B Immunoglobulin was discovered to vary between ₦56,000 and ₦85,000 per dose.
Willingness to Pay: The examine famous that this value is “prohibitive” for a lot of, as the common quantity pregnant girls have been prepared/capable of pay was solely about ₦23,178.
Essential Context on Affected person Prices: The patient-level pricing information within the second examine displays an alternate fee of roughly ₦370 to $1 USD (information collected round 2019). Given current inflation and foreign money devaluation in Nigeria, the present market value in Naira (₦1459 to $1 USD immediately) for these imported medicines is probably going considerably larger immediately than the figures cited within the examine.
Estimated Prices of Hepatitis B Assessments in Nigeria (2026)
| Check Identify | Authorities Labs (e.g., NIMR) | Personal Labs (Lagos) | Personal Labs (Abuja) | Frequency (Typical) |
| HBsAg Screening (Speedy) | ₦3,000 – ₦8,500 | ₦5,000 – ₦10,000 | ₦5,500 – ₦12,000 | As soon as (for prognosis) |
| HBV DNA (Viral Load) | ₦35,000 – ₦50,000 | ₦37,500 – ₦75,000 | ₦35,000 – ₦70,000 | Each 6–12 months |
| Liver Perform Check (LFT) | ₦4,000 – ₦10,000 | ₦14,500 – ₦25,000 | ₦15,000 – ₦27,000 | Each 6 months |
| Stomach Ultrasound Scan | ₦4,000 – ₦12,000 | ₦10,000 – ₦20,000 | ₦12,000 – ₦25,000 | Each 6–12 months |
| Hepatitis B Panel (5-in-1) | ₦15,000 – ₦25,000 | ₦17,000 – ₦35,000 | ₦20,000 – ₦40,000 | As soon as (for baseline) |
| Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) | ₦10,000 – ₦15,000 | ₦15,000 – ₦25,000 | ₦18,000 – ₦30,000 | Most cancers screening |
Prognosis of Hepatitis B in Nigeria
To determine in case you have Hepatitis B, the physician wants to look at you and search for telltale indicators of liver injury, equivalent to yellowed pores and skin or stomach ache. Some frequent assessments used to detect the Hepatitis B virus embrace:
- A Blood take a look at. A Blood take a look at is used to detect indicators of the hepatitis B virus in your physique and it additionally serves the perform of telling your physician if it’s acute or continual. A blood take a look at additionally determines in case you are proof against Hepatitis B.
- A Liver ultrasound. A course of known as transient elastography is used to the quantity of liver injury.
- Liver biopsies. In a liver biopsy, the physician removes a small pattern of your liver to check for liver injury. Within the take a look at, a health care provider inserts a skinny needle via your pores and skin to your liver and removes a tissue pattern that he ship s the lab to check for liver injury.
Prevention of Additional An infection Hepatitis
- Have Protected Intercourse. If you happen to occur to be sexually lively, please inform your associate of your situation and ensure he understands it and speak in regards to the threat of transmitting it to her or him throughout intercourse. Use a brand new condom each time you’ve got intercourse, however observe that condoms solely cut back threat however don’t remove such mentioned dangers.
- Get Your Companion Examined. Anybody that you’ve got had intercourse with must be examined for the Hepatitis B virus. Your associate must know their infective standing in order that they don’t infect others with the virus.
- Don’t share private gadgets. By no means share any private care merchandise that you simply use when you use together with needles and syringes. Additionally by no means, share razor blades or toothbrushes, as they could carry traces of contaminated blood.
Remedy of Hepatitis B in Nigeria
Most of the time, individuals recognized with a continual pressure of the hepatitis B an infection are in want of remedy for the remainder of their lives because the virus thrives in them till demise. The Remedy helps cut back the danger of liver illness and serves to forestall you from passing the illness to some other individual. The most typical remedy for the continual pressure of the Hepatitis B Virus:
- Antiviral medicines. Antiviral medicines together with entecavir (Baraclude), tenofovir (Viread), lamivudine (Epivir), adefovir (Hesperia) and telbivudine (Tyzeka) are given to assist combat the virus and sluggish its capability to wreck your liver to as deadly extent. It is best to have a chat together with your physician about which remedy is greatest for you.
- Interferon injections. Interferon alfa-2b (Intron A). This can be a artificial model of a substance produced by the physique’s immune system. It’s used as a remedy for younger individuals with the continual pressure of the hepatitis B virus who want to keep away from long-term remedy of the illness or for girls who would possibly wish to get pregnant inside an area of some years, after finishing a finite course of remedy. Please observe that Interferon ought to by no means be used throughout being pregnant. Some recognized unintended effects of the drug embrace nausea, vomiting, issue in respiration and despair.
- A Liver transplant. If sadly, your liver has been severely broken by the virus then a liver transplant may be an possibility. In a liver transplant, the surgeon removes your broken liver and replaces it with a wholesome liver.
Continuously Requested Questions (FAQ)
1. What’s the price of a Hepatitis B viral load take a look at in Nigeria?
In 2026, the value of a Hepatitis B DNA Quantitative (Viral Load) take a look at in Nigeria sometimes ranges between ₦25,000 and ₦75,000, relying on the laboratory and metropolis. Whereas non-public diagnostic facilities like Synlab or Surjen could cost larger charges for sooner outcomes, government-affiliated labs like NIMR usually supply extra sponsored pricing.
2. What’s the value of Hepatitis B remedy in Nigeria?
Widespread antiviral medicines like Tenofovir (300mg) value between ₦8,000 and ₦25,000 for a 30-day provide, relying on whether or not you purchase a generic or a branded model (like Vemlidy). Newer variations like Tenofovir Alafenamide (TAF) are usually dearer, usually priced between ₦25,000 and ₦50,000 per pack.
3. How can I handle Hepatitis B in Nigeria?
Managing Hepatitis B includes common monitoring by a gastroenterologist or infectious illness specialist. This consists of:
4. Is Hepatitis B remedy free in Nigeria?
Presently, Hepatitis B remedy is not solely free for adults in Nigeria. Whereas the Federal Authorities’s “Mission 365” and sure state initiatives (like these in Lagos and Ogun) supply free screening and birth-dose vaccinations, sufferers normally pay out-of-pocket for long-term antiviral medicine and viral load monitoring. Nevertheless, some NGOs and specialised state packages present extremely sponsored care.
Thanks for studying this put up. Do not forget to subscribe to our YouTube web site right here for Well being and dental care content material. Moreover, observe us on Fb, X.com (Twitter), Pinterest, Telegram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp Channel.
