The Punjab government is evolving a comprehensive strategy to control hepatitis and would extend all out cooperation to Pakistan Kidney & Liver Institute (PKLI) for conducting random survey regarding the hepatitis prevalence in province.
Advisor to Chief Minister Punjab on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique revealed this while talking to a Pakistani origin American medical expert Dr Abdul Nadir, Director Liver Transplantation Banner Good Samaritan Regional Medical Centre, and Ms Kelly Balmer, technician supervisor of Endoscope Maricopa Integrated Health Services USA, at PKLI office, here Friday.
Chairman PKLI Professor Saeed Akhtar and Secretary Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education Najam Ahmed Shah were also present on the occasion. Professor Saeed Akhtar said that highly qualified Pakistani doctors residing in America and UK have given their consent to serve in PKLI with a national and humanitarian spirit. He said that data bank of hepatitis patients would be prepared, for this purpose PKLI would conduct a random survey of 30,000 people.
Secretary Health Najam Ahmed Shah said the government is ready to allocate maximum resources to control hepatitis. The under construction PKLI would be a state of the art research institute of international standard which would be a mother institute and after that plan would be made for setting up such institutes in other parts of the province, he added.