World Hepatitis Day marked 'Need to control hepatitis through coordinated strategies, efforts'

LAHORE: Terming hepatitis as a major threat to public health in the country, health professionals have stressed the need to control it through coordinated strategies and concerted efforts.

Addressing a seminar in connection with "World Hepatitis Day" here at the University of Health Sciences (UHS), on Wednesday, UHS Vice-Chancellor Prof Javed Akram said that the number of deaths due to hepatitis was much higher than that of coronavirus.

He said the Covid-19 pandemic would soon be part of history, but hepatitis would not be eradicated any time soon.

"Corona virus has made people realized the importance of vaccination. As a result, there is hope for new vaccines against hepatitis", he opined.

The seminar was organized by the UHS Department of Public Health and hosted by its assistant professor Dr Shehnoor Azhar. Principal Rashid Latif Medical College Professor Aftab Mohsin said that the last case of smallpox in Pakistan was reported in 1974 and unfortunately this was the starting point of Hepatitis-C.

He said that 1.5 billion injections were given annually in Pakistan which was a major cause of the spread of hepatitis, he added.

"The world receives an average of one vaccine per person per year, but an average of 13 has been recorded in Pakistan", revealed Professor Aftab Mohsin.

He further said that Hepatitis-C kills 410 people every day in the country and called the current situation catastrophic.

Dr Fatima Mukhtar, Head of the UHS Public Health department, said viral hepatitis was a silent killer.

"Pakistan is the second-largest country in the world with the highest number of Hepatitis C patients. One person dies of hepatitis every 30 seconds in the world", she said.

Prof Fatima Mukhtar said that it was very important for every newborn to be vaccinated against Hepatitis-B.

Prof Arif Siddiqui, Head, Department of Gastroenterology, PKLI, Lahore, said that every pregnant woman should be screened for Hepatitis-B and C.

"It is imperative to prevent the transmission of the virus in the newborn child. Proper use of syringes and other precautions can reduce virus transmission by up to 10 percent", he informed.

Programme Manager Punjab Hepatitis Programme Dr Khalid Mahmood said that the current rate of spread of Hepatitis-C in Punjab was about 9 percent. The number of Hepatitis-C patients in the province was 9 million. He said that efforts were being made to control the spread of the disease through macro and micro-elimination methods and special initiatives.

Prof Kashif Malik, Head of the Gastroenterology department at Sheikh Zayed Hospital Lahore, said that 225,000 new cases of hepatitis were reported in Pakistan every year.

He proposed that like Covid-19, a national database should also be developed for hepatitis. Moreover, Hepatitis-B vaccination should be made mandatory before children enter school.

Dr Jamshed Ahmed, Head of the Punjab office of the World Health Organization, said that the use of unsafe syringes in Pakistan was 14 pc. He said that coordinated efforts and sustainable resources were needed to control this disease.

Moreover, a virtual poster competition on the occasion of World Hepatitis Day was also organized at the University in which students of affiliated medical and dental colleges participated.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021