Hepatitis major public problem for Pakistan: Experts

KARACHI: Health Experts recently termed Hepatitis B and C are major public health problems for Pakistan, but both can be controlled and cured entirely through advance available treatment facilities in the country.

Experts and office-bearers of the Pakistan Society Study of Liver Diseases (PSSLD) stated this during a seminar held to mark World Hepatitis Day 2019 under the "Find the missing Million.”

The seminar was organized by the PSSLD in collaboration with leading medical universities and hospitals including the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Baqai Medical University, Karachi, Hamdard University, Jinnah Memorial Hospital, Rawalpindi, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, and others.

Experts said that there had been significant advances in the treatment of hepatitis B and C viral infections in recent times. In most patients, hepatitis B can be effectively controlled, and hepatitis C can be cursed completed with the currently available treatments. The people who think they may be exposed to these infections should be tested as early as possible so they can be effectively treated at their earliest convenience.

According to a recent survey, an estimated 14 million people have hepatitis in Pakistan, but unfortunately, the problem our country faces among many others is that 80% of hepatitis patients remain undiagnosed. Thus, this contagious infection is considered a major public health problem for the world.

President, PSSLD, Brig (R) Prof Masood Siddiq, Prof Zaigham Abbas, Prof Saeed Hamdi, Prof Wasim Jafri, and others addressed the seminar.