Diagnostic and treatment facilities for hepatitis still remain out of reach for a majority of infected population as the Punjab government fails to deliver its Hepatitis Control Programme (HCP), Pakistan Today has learnt.
The Punjab government initiated the HCP in 2009 to provide free testing and medication for Hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV respectively), but, owing to a lack of funds, the free facility was stopped almost six months ago. With recent allocation of more funds, the facilities were restored, but in shortened capacity.
For Punjab with a population of 90 million, of whom every 13th person is infected with Hepatitis, only 12 labs have the apparatus to conduct the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test for screening of HBV and HCV. The provincial capital has two of these PCR labs installed at Jinnah Hospital and Institute of Public Health. Samples of blood from all other hospitals in the district are sent to these hospitals for screening.
“Heavy workload causes delay in giving reports,” a lab official at the Jinnah Hospital told on condition of anonymity. The government hospital’s PCR labs takes more than a month for blood screening results. Muhammad Azam, an HCV positive patient said he was given his test report after one and a half month and the injections were also issued very late. If patients opt for tests at private laboratories, they have to pay heavily as the test prices range from Rs 3,000 to Rs 20,000.
Once a patient is diagnosed HCV/HBV positive, the treatment depends on stage of infection. At chronicle stages, the patient is given injections on alternate days for 6 months completing a course of 72 injections. Under the HCP, injections are provided only to those patients who have greater chances of recovery.
A spokesman of the Punjab Health Department said the provincial government started the programme with its own resources and any delay in the provision of facilities was because of budgetary issues and was temporary. He said more laboratories are being established in different hospitals and soon a PCR lab would start working in the Mayo Hospital, Lahore as well.
Dr Abdur Rehman, a senior pathologist, criticised the government for mismanaging the affairs. “Awareness is the main thing in controlling the spread of this fatal disease. The government can spend hefty amounts for its publicity, but not for running awareness campaigns regarding preventive measures of HBV and HCV,” he added. He said more funds must be given to the programme and a productive plan be employed to combat the disease.
