LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Khawaja Salman Rafique has said that Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif is taking disease control program seriously and concrete steps have been taken for prevention of hepatitis, provision of diagnostic as well as treatment facilities to the patients free of cost.
He stated this while addressing a seminar collectively arranged by the Primary & Secondary Health Department and Pakistan Kidney, Liver & Research Institute (PKLI) to observe World Hepatitis Day at Chief Minister’s House, today.
The minister said that hepatitis filter clinics are being set up across the province where free diagnostic and treatment facilities are being provided to the patients. Punjab Minister for Primary & Secondary Health Khawaja Imran Nazir, PKLI Trust President Dr Saeed Akhtar, vice chancellors of University of Health Sciences, King Edward Medical University, Fatima Jinnah Medical University, principals of medical colleges, Lord Mayor Mubasher Javed, Medical Superintendents of teaching hospitals of Lahore, Hepatitis Control Program Director Dr Zahida Sarwar, Dr Naeem-ud-Din Mian, Dr Sumair Qureshi and lot of people from different walks of life attended the awareness seminar.
Salman Rafique further said that gastroenterology departments in teaching hospitals have also been established for which a core group headed by PGMI Principal Ghayas Tayyab is already working. He further said that hepatitis treatment and filter clinics are being set up in all the 36 districts by the Primary & Secondary Health Department.
Salman Rafique disclosed that in the first phase, 100-beds of PKLI would start functioning by December 2017 where all the treatment and procedural facilities would be available to the patients. The total cost of PKLI would be Rs. 20 billion, the minister added.
While addressing the seminar, the Minister for Primary & Secondary Health Imran Nazir said that the main focus of the Primary & Secondary Health Department is to control the spread of diseases for which a disease prevention program has been launched in the province. He disclosed that integrated disease screening camps are being organised in different areas for creation of awareness and to screen the people against different diseases.
He added that two months back, hepatitis screening camps were organised throughout the province during which 125,000 people were screened; first, hepatitis B vaccine was administered to 110,000 people.
PKLI president was of the view that hepatitis is spreading rapidly in Pakistan. He disclosed that the main cause of this spread is unawareness of people, reuse of disposable syringes, use of polluted instruments of barbers, dentists, non-sterilized surgical equipment, beauty parlors, transfusion of unhygienic and infected blood etc. He disclosed that presently, approximately 20 million people are infected by hepatitis B and C in Pakistan.
Dr Saeed Akhtar said that his dream to serve the poor people is being fulfilled by the commitment and full cooperation of Punjab CM who has approved and provided huge funds for establishing a state-of-the-art Pakistan Liver & Kidney Institute. He further said that all the filter clinics being set up at district level would be linked with the main hepatitis prevention and treatment center at Bedian Road through information technology.
He disclosed that during the last few months, more than ten thousand patients have visited OPD of filter clinic of PKLI at Bedian Road.
