Introduction: Viral hepatitis affects millions of people around the globe. The burden of disease is significantly higher in developing countries such as those in Africa. Lack of awareness coupled with inadequate information about the disease amongst general public is the major reason for the spread of infection. Awareness of the disease can help in building advocacy and improving access to care. In order to assess the awareness levels of hepatitis among general public in Cameroon, we designed and conducted a cross-sectional study.
Materials and Methods: The objective of the study was to assess the awareness of hepatitis in a set population of Cameroon. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a small population in Cameroon. A total of 88 people aged between 18 to 70 years participated in the survey.
Results: On a scale of 0 to 10 the average awareness level of the survey respondents was 5.38. Although the results indicated that the survey participants had some knowledge about hepatitis, it was observed that there was lack of awareness in some key areas of the disease such as modes of transmission and vaccination. There is a need for initiatives at a population level to increase the awareness about viral hepatitis, modes of transmission, treatment and prevention in Cameroon.