The government plans to establish diagnosis and counselling centres throughout the country for treatment of hepatitis. Dr Sharif Ahmad Khan, the National Programme Manager for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis has said this while talking to PTV.
He said the Hepatitis B vaccine had been supplied to the provincial health departments for health workers, prison inmates and dialysis patients. He said: "People should pay attention to the fact that prevention is better than treatment," the other reasons for the high number of hepatitis cases is "Impure water which is still being used all over the country and must be avoided."
He warned that the government was installing water filtration plants, yet more needs to be done, and said water pipelines passing along drains often led to contamination, while un-sterilised shaving kits and medical instruments were other sources of hepatitis.
He said the percentage of Hepatitis B in the country was about three to four percent, while those infected with 'C' were five to six percent. The disease has five types - A, B, C, D and E. He said: "A and E types occur due to consumption of unhygienic food or contaminated water. Those types can be cured through vaccination. 'A' occurs during childhood whereas 'E' affects adults."
"On the other hand, the B, C and D types of hepatitis were caused by infected blood. The B and C types are dangerous and cannot be treated through vaccinations and only immunity can counter this virus," he said. "The virus causing hepatitis lives for seven to eight days if the medical instrument is not properly sterilised," he said, and added that virus could not be removed completely.
He said national guidelines on various technical aspects were in process. The aspects included the sterilisation of instruments used in surgical, medical and dental interventions, hospital and biological waste management and national community-based guidelines for safe drinking water and sanitation. The guidelines also cover advocacy materials for barbers, beauty parlours and dentists in addition to hepatitis case management and counselling.
"World Hepatitis Day focuses on raising awareness of viral hepatitis in a co-ordinated global campaign, and the activities and events would continue throughout the week as we continued our tradition of a National Hepatitis Awareness Week", he added.
He said treatment of hepatitis B and C in the last decade had been revolutionist and hepatitis C sub-type, which existed in Pakistan, was close to 90 percent curable if appropriate combination at appropriate time was used. He said the most important aspect of prevention was screening of blood products, sterilised equipment, and better hygienic standards in barbershops. It was an easily controllable disease, but mild lapse in precautions could lead to very disastrous consequence, he added.
He said for prevention purpose, there should be universal vaccination for hepatitis B, which was almost in progress everywhere in Pakistan. He said both private and public partnerships in true spirits and sincerity was needed to get rid of this disease and making the country hepatitis free in the near future.