The Ministry of Health is in the final stages of drafting a programme to combat the Hepatitis disease, after the earlier 2005 programme was found to have missed its targets and objectives. According to the reports, the mid-point review conducted by the Health Ministry identified a number of gaps in the 2005 programme that restricted its impact on controlling the disease.
The ministry decided to prepare and launch another comprehensive programme to fight the spreading epidemic. Following an exhaustive audit of the current programme, the Ministry held extensive consultation with the professionals and experts, including liver disease specialists and epidemiologists and drafted a detailed strategy.
The Prime Minister will be briefed about the new Programme in a formal presentation and it will be launched after his approval. The focus of the revised programme, proposed to be called the 'Prime Minister's Emergency Action on Hepatitis' would be on blood borne viral hepatitis (B and C), which is said to be wreaking havoc in many of the communities.
The Programme emphasises a robust surveillance system to measure the burden of disease, monitor trends, evaluate control measures, interventions and programmes, and identify infected persons for medical assistance. The surveillance system would draw information from the District Health Information System and a linked network of the 450 major public hospitals of the country.
Improved laboratory facilities would be part of the surveillance system. One of the important aspects of the programme is that it seeks the involvement of Members National Assembly, proposing to link them to the working and monitoring of the programme in 272 sentinel sites along the lines of National Electoral Constituencies.
The programme's intensified focus on the preventive side incorporates major efforts geared towards developing a culture of safe injections and blood safety. It also proposes deployment of a force of 272 Hepatitis Social Mobilisers who would be advising and assisting medical practitioners, barbers, beauty parlours and tattooists on safe practices and hepatitis prevention.
"The educational component of the programme is most important," said Sherry Rehman, Federal Minister for Health, commenting on the draft programme. "Any preventive strategy must focus on inducing behavioural change by communication." Sherry said that the reason behind augmenting the preventive strategy is because there is a dire need to control the spread of the disease.
"The prevalence of hepatitis has reached alarming levels in Pakistan. Studies suggest that up to 7 percent or 12 million of the population is infected in the country. "We cannot afford to allow the disease to grow into a monster threatening the entire population," the minister said. She said that unlike the last government, her Ministry would not like to give out a false impression to the public that this programme will eradicate the disease.
"It is aimed at controlling the spread of the blood borne viral hepatitis thorough a massive preventive initiative. Our government is determined to play its role in controlling the spread of the disease, and the Programme will be monitored and followed up to ensure it yields tangible results within two years, he added."
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