World Health Organization's (WHO) target for elimination of Hepatitis B and C by 2030 appears to be a dream for Pakistan, where more than 10 million people infected with viral hepatitis are still undiagnosed while hundreds of them are dying due to complications of the infection including liver cancer, end-stage liver disease and liver failure, national and international experts said on Friday.
They said Pakistan was among one of the most affected countries due to hepatitis B and C where it was fast spreading among those who inject drugs and reuse of syringes, transfusion of unscreened blood, and use of unsterilized razors at barber shops and called for mass screening throughout the country to ascertain the actual data of disease burden and plan treatment of the infected people.
They were speaking at the joint symposium of World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO) and Pakistan Society for the Study of Liver Diseases (PSSLD) at the 12th Annual meeting of PSSLD here at a local hotel other day.
Experts from different countries of the world including World Gastroenterology Organization (WGO) president Prof Cihan Yusdaydin from Turkey, eminent Turkish Transplant Surgeon Prof Kamil Yalcin Polat as well as leading gastroenterologists and hepatologists discussed strategies to wipe out hepatitis B and C from the world.
Renowned Turkish transplant surgeon Prof Kamil Yalcin Polat offered his services in training Pakistani surgeons in Live Donor Liver Transplants (LDLT), saying Turkey was the 2nd leading country in performing liver transplants followed by United States and added that they over 38 centers were performing liver transplants in their country.
Prof Kamil Yalcin said not only he but other Turkish experts were willing to share their knowledge with Pakistani counterparts, which was evident from presence of many Turkish experts at this conference and added that he was not only ready to do liver transplants in Pakistan but could also invite Pakistani surgeons to his centre for their training in Live Donor Liver Transplants.
Eminent gastroenterologist and Director WGO Training Centre Karachi Prof Wasim Jaffri despite poor situation with regard to Hepatitis B and C in Pakistan, this menace could be eliminated through concentrated efforts and called for joint efforts by the federal, provincial governments and private sector to screen, diagnose and treat viral hepatitis patients in Pakistan.
Commenting on availability of liver transplant facilities in Sindh, he said Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) and Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences were busy in performing liver transplants with some problems but added that these issues were quite natural and could be resolved over the time.
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