Campaign against hepatitis urged

With an estimated 15 million carriers of hepatitis in the country, health experts have called upon the government to launch a special campaign on emergency basis to check the spread of disease, which is on rise at horrifying magnitude on account of use of polluted water, reusing of infected needles/ syringes, dental and other invasive health care services.
Talking to Business Recorder here on Thursday, they urged the government to chalk out a comprehensive plan, involving all the community leaders, medical experts, opinion makers and other stakeholders to wage joint efforts in combating the disease by disseminating the message of taking preventive measures against it.
According to them, Hepatitis is a major public health problem all over the world and over one million chronically infected persons die each year due to Hepatitis-B infection and its complications while Hepatitis-C virus infects 3-4 million persons each year.
They also asked the government to formulate an integrated and comprehensive plan to overcome the disease. They added that the use of polluted water is also causing spread of renal, abdominal, TB, diarrhoea, typhoid, allergy and other health problems.
According to them, in most parts of the provincial metropolis, the quantum of bacteria and fluoride is above the prescribed limits.
It may be mentioned that polluted water is the root cause of diarrhoea, which takes the lives of 2.2 million children yearly and leaves millions more underweight, mentally and physically stunted and immunosuppressed.
They further said that Pakistan is facing environmental pollution in relation with increasing population, and people in various parts of the province are facing difficulties in getting potable water.
The focus of the Health Department should be on rural areas where unhygienic conditions prevail.
The experts also urged the government to evolve a comprehensive strategy for strengthening environmental health measures through community-based initiatives, practical strategies and capacity building activities at the local levels.
For basic sanitation measures, water supply, sanitation, solid waste measures must be adopted for checking environmental pollution and the relevant laws should be strictly enforced, they asserted.
They also called for launching a public awareness campaign to apprise the citizens about the ill effects of use of polluted water.