The Steering Committee meeting of the Pakistan Liver and Kidney Institute (PKLI) was held on Friday 9 June, 2017 at the (PKLI & RC) Secretariat. Khawaja Salman Rafique, Minister of Health, Government of Punjab and Prof Dr Saeed Akhter were present in the meeting. President and CEO, PKLI&RC chaired the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to develop a unified strategy for the elimination of hepatitis from the province in line with the Government of Punjab’s hepatitis control program and global health strategy on viral hepatitis. The meeting noted that all the stakeholders should work as a team for the early enactment of the Punjab Hepatitis Prevention and Control Act. This will lead to better implementation of the policy on all aspects of the health department, such as hospital waste management, dialysis, auto destructive syringes, use of sterilized instruments and vaccination of the vulnerable segments of the society.
Khawaja Salman Rafique highlighted the immense importance of the PKLI’s project and stated that in view of the complex situation of hepatitis in the province, he feels that there is a need for an independently structured program and a legislative framework for the healthcare professionals of Pakistan. Khawaja Salman Rafique said that there is an urgent need for designating roles and responsibilities to the PKLI & RC, Government of Punjab and Tertiary Healthcare Department. This, he said, will help in avoiding any duplication of efforts to the public service.
Dr Saeed Akhter mentioned that Pakistan can greatly benefit from the experience of other nations like Egypt and Georgia, who have been successfully combating hepatitis. He added that the PKLI is planning to operate laboratories under a structured code of network that will cater to the growing number of hepatitis patients in the far flung areas of Punjab. This robust database plan, he added, is being planned under sentinel sites of state-of-the-art PKLI & RC.
