A meeting on Hepatitis Prevention and Treatment Program was held at Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) Secretariat under the Chairmanship of Minister for Specialized Healthcare and Medical Education Khawaja Salman Rafique to discuss the progress on the Hepatitis Prevention and Treatment Program (HPTP). HPTP is an integral part of the PKLI’s Hepatitis Prevention and Treatment Clinic (HPTC).
Dr Saeed Akhter, President PKLI was also present at the meeting. Representatives from primary and secondary healthcare and tertiary healthcare departments, government of Punjab and CEO IDAP, Mujahid Shair Dil also attended the meeting.
Khawaja Salman Rafique, reiterated the importance of the standardisation of facilities in all of the health departments of Punjab. Dr Saeed Akhter said that the two most important areas of Hepatitis Treatment and Prevention are: legislation and prevention and hepatitis screening and treatment. He said that the former needs to be implemented at the state level and every concerned department like health and IT needs to take full responsibility for it. PKLI, on the other hand, will play an active role in the screening, vaccination and treatment of Hepatitis by teaming up with the national and international institutions.
He said that the international bodies like CDC (Center of Disease Control) in Atlanta, Georgia, World Bank and Harvard Medical College are all forthcoming in working with the PKLI to eliminate Hepatitis from Pakistan.
Dr Ghias Un Nabi Tayyab, who was also present at the meeting, said that a centralised mechanism for control on medicine quality will also work to ensure quality medicine at low prices for all of the patients.
Observing the magnitude of the problem, Dr Saeed Akhter said that the prevention of viral hepatitis is one of the major objectives of the PKLI. In this regard, PKLI-HPTC, he added, is now providing vaccination and treatment to patients free of cost.
Dr Zahida, Project Director HPTP expressed concern over the spread of the disease and stated that the HPTP aims to provide a starting point for the elimination of hepatitis in Pakistan by indicating baseline statistics on HBV and HCV infections, including mortality, and coverage levels of key interventions.