Cases of hepatitis ‘B’ is on the increase at Duayaw-Nkwanta, the Tano North District capital, results from a health screening exercise in the town indicates.

According to the results, majority of the blood samples screened during the exercise contained the virus.

Mr David Dorme, a Physician Assistant at the Sunyani Municipal Hospital, who led the exercise, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that almost all the people who tested positive were unaware about their health condition.

Blood samples of about 400 people, including students and the aged were screened during the exercise, which was organised by Vodafone Ghana Foundation, Vodafone Ghana’s charitable arm, on Friday.

Mr Dorme noted that bad eating habit, alcoholism and smoking were some of the contributory factors to the spread of the disease in the area.

He advised those who tested positive not to eat at night and should eat more fruits, and counseled them to go for regular medication.

Mr Dorme said vaccination and regular medical check-ups were the best way to guard against contracting the disease.

He observed that apart from hepatitis ‘B’, cases of hypertension were also high in the area.

Mr Daniel Asiedu, a Public Relations Officer of Vodafone Ghana, said the telecommunication company was poised to partner with government to bring changes in the living conditions of the vulnerable in society.

He noted that since the establishment of the Vodafone Ghana Foundation six year ago, more than 20,000 Ghanaians had benefited from the foundation’s health programmes.

Mr Asiedu said the foundation offered ultra-scan to pregnant women in Eastern and Western regions, as well as provided them free medication for specific ailments.

On the company’s network base and services, the PRO said Vodafone had 7.4 million subscribers nationwide, and it had invested 700 million dollars to improve on network quality and internet connectivity in the past six years.