The NWFP government has planned to set up an Institute of Hepatology to control the growing number of hepatitis cases in the province, said NWFP Health Minister Innayatullah Khan here on Tuesday.
"The provincial government has allocated Rs 38 million for the Institute, while Rs 196 million has been pledged by the donor organisations", the minister said while briefing reporters about the first symposium on hepatitis, being organised by the Post-graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) on October 1.
The minister said that step had been taken keeping in view the rapid spread of Hepatitis-B and C. The Institute to be established at the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), would also arrange seminars, workshops and symposia, besides provision of free treatment and diagnostic facilities to the patients, he added.
Flanked by PGMI Dean Dr Arshad Javaid, Dr Ijaz Mohammad Khan, Dr Aamir Ghafoor Khan and others, the provincial minister said that in the symposium top hepatologists of the country would interact with the patients.
He said the MMA government had also established an Endowment Fund worth Rs 500 million to provide free treatment to poor afflicted with chronic ailments.
"From Endowment Fund amount, MRI and CT scan machines are being installed at the Khyber Teaching Hospital", he said.
Innayatullah Khan said the treatment of hepatitis was extremely expensive and it was difficult for the government to provide free treatment to all patients. The only way was, he said, adopting preventive measures.
He said the government would soon launch a week-long campaign to create awareness among the masses regarding hepatitis, adding the Health Regulatory Authority had been tasked to take action against the blood banks, which were involved in illegal practices.
The minister said that Safe Blood Transfusion Act had been implemented according to which the blood banks in public and private sectors were required to provide screened blood to the patients.
Dr Arshad Javaid said that PGMI frequently organised symposia on different diseases and medical discipline with a view to promoting medical sciences and also raising the level of peoples' awareness about diseases.
The symposium on hepatitis includes holding of scientific and public awareness sessions.
Dr Aamir Ghafoor said there were an estimated 15 million hepatitis patients in the country, of which about four million patients belonged to the Frontier province.
The problem of the disease had become so severe that 25 percent of the hospital beds remained occupied by the hepatitis patients, he said.
He said that hepatitis led to liver cirrhosis and cancer of liver, which ultimately caused death. He said that the only way out of hepatitis was liver transplantation that cost Rs 10 million or more, while Rs 20,000 was required per month for subsequent treatment.
He said the US government spent $10 billion annually on the treatment of the hepatitis patients. In such circumstances, he said, the only way was prevention and urged the people to avoid unnecessary injections.
He said the government had included Hepatitis-B vaccines in the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) to the new-born babies.
He said that basic diagnostic facilities were available in the city but for some advanced tests patients were being referred to Karachi and Lahore.
"With the establishment of the Institute of Hepatology, the facilities of advanced tests would become available here", the minister added.
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