ELS: MBN360 HEALTH
Ghanaian musician and viral hepatitis advocate Okyeame Kwame has been appointed Ghana Health Service Ambassador for the campaign against viral hepatitis, unveiling his new song “No Hep” as part of activities marking World Hepatitis Day, in a bid to harness music as a tool for raising awareness and driving behaviour change around the disease.
The announcement came as the Ghana Health Service inaugurated its National Viral Hepatitis Technical Working Group, with the Director-General describing both milestones as part of a broader strategy to accelerate the country’s push to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat.
The Director-General noted that the technical working group being inaugurated had never before existed in this form, describing the occasion as a moment to reflect on the distance Ghana has travelled in confronting viral hepatitis and to chart a path toward eliminating it as a public health threat.
“This occasion serves as an opportunity to reflect on where we have come from, where we are today, and where we must go if we want to eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat.”Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea
He recalled that for many years, viral hepatitis remained a neglected public health challenge in Ghana, despite affecting millions of citizens.
many patients were diagnosed only after the disease had already progressed to liver cirrhosis or liver cancer, earning hepatitis its reputation as a silent killer.
Progress Through the National Hepatitis Control Programme
Despite this history, the Director-General said the picture is now changing, crediting the National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme and its partners with measurable gains in recent years.
He said public awareness has improved, healthcare workers have received targeted training, and stronger partnerships have been forged across government, academia, civil society and development partners.
He pointed specifically to the Stop Hep C Ghana programme, through which thousands of Ghanaians have received free curative treatment for hepatitis C, describing the initiative as proof that elimination is achievable once effective services are made accessible to the population that needs them.
Even with this progress, the Director-General acknowledged that the scale of the challenge remains enormous.
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He disclosed that approximately three million Ghanaians are currently living with hepatitis B, alongside roughly half a million living with hepatitis C, with the majority in both groups unaware of their status, a gap he said continues to undermine national elimination efforts.
Hepatitis Services Folded Into Primary Health Care
The Director-General linked the fight against hepatitis directly to Ghana’s ongoing health sector reforms, particularly the Free Primary Health Care programme, which he said presents a unique opportunity to reshape how hepatitis services are delivered. Rather than treating hepatitis as a standalone programme, he said screening, diagnosis and linkage to care have now been integrated into routine primary health care services, spanning maternal and child health, HIV services, outpatient care, laboratory services, blood safety programmes and the wider community health system.
Central to this approach is the Triple Elimination Initiative, which brings together efforts to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV, hepatitis B and syphilis simultaneously, through routine antenatal screening, appropriate treatment for eligible mothers, and the planned introduction of a universal hepatitis B birth-dose vaccination for newborns.
“Today we offer an unprecedented opportunity to protect every child from hepatitis B and from every kind of hepatitis, from the very first day that child will be born.”Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea
The Director-General described the inauguration of the National Viral Hepatitis Technical Working Group as another important milestone in Ghana’s elimination agenda, explaining that the group would provide the technical leadership, coordination and guidance needed to accelerate implementation of the country’s hepatitis elimination plans, ensuring that decisions remain grounded in evidence and best practice.
He reaffirmed the Ghana Health Service’s commitment to expanding access to hepatitis services, integrating hepatitis care further into primary health care, strengthening disease surveillance, decentralising care delivery, and ensuring equitable access to testing, treatment and long-term management for every Ghanaian, regardless of location.
Music Unveiled as a Tool for Awareness
The choice to centre part of the World Hepatitis Day commemoration around a live musical performance, rather than a purely clinical presentation of statistics and policy, reflected an attempt to reach younger and more socially engaged Ghanaians who might otherwise remain disconnected from formal public health messaging.
The Director-General went on to officially unveil Okyeame Kwame as Ghana Health Service Ambassador for the fight against hepatitis, expressing gratitude to the musician for accepting the role and describing him as a champion who would help extend the campaign’s reach across the country. His appointment, paired with the debut of “No Hep,” offered an early demonstration of how that advocacy role is expected to unfold in practice, blending entertainment with public health messaging.
Closing the ceremony, the Director-General struck an optimistic tone about what continued collaboration could achieve, insisting that the tools needed to eliminate viral hepatitis already exist and that the responsibility now lies in ensuring they reach everyone who needs them.
“If we continue to work together, I am confident that Ghana can achieve a future where no one dies from preventable or treatable viral hepatitis infection.”Prof. Samuel Kaba Akoriyea
With Okyeame Kwame now formally attached to the campaign through both his ambassadorial role and his new song, and a dedicated technical working group in place, the Ghana Health Service appears to be positioning hepatitis elimination as a sustained, multi-year national priority, one that blends policy, clinical integration and cultural influence in equal measure.
