- Punjab Hepatitis Control Programme to establish 101 filter clinics: Dr Sarwar
LAHORE: The scale of hepatitis prevalence in Punjab calls for all sections of society to come forward and synergize efforts for the control and prevention of the disease, said experts, who gathered for an awareness seminar on World Hepatitis Day at a local hotel, on Saturday.
Punjab Hepatitis Control Programme Manager Dr Zahida Sarwar said the Programme is establishing 101 dedicated hepatitis filter clinics in the province and 58 of them have already had started working. She said the Programme has so far registered 40 thousand barbers and hair dressers in the province and safe kits are being provided to them along with training.
The Punjab Hepatitis Control organised a ceremony for stakeholders, as well as the staff of the filter clinics, to mark the World Hepatitis Day on July 28. Dr Sarwar said more than 7 million people in Punjab are estimated to be suffering from hepatitis B and C—the blood-borne viral infection.
“If we have to eliminate hepatitis from Punjab, we have to treat 0.8 to 0.9 million people annually in Punjab, which just shows how big a challenge we are facing. We have to treat a large number of patients and reduce the infectious pool if we are to eliminate hepatitis from the province. The presence of a large infectious pool means there is a potential threat of the disease spreading in the province,” Dr Sarwar further said.
The government has enhanced the budget for hepatitis control and the Programme currently has the capacity to treat more than 80 thousand patients in the province, she said, adding, “Treatment is not the only area we are focusing. A renewed emphasis has been laid on awareness and prevention.
The Programme has signed an MoU with the Lahore Press Club for the provision of free medicines to the journalists,” she added. She emphasised that the Punjab Hepatitis Control Programme is pushing for measures for legislation and for the introduction of auto destructible syringes. She said hospital waste management and infection control protocols are being implemented in collaboration with the Punjab Healthcare Commission.
P&S Health Special Secretary Dr Faisal Zahoor also spoke on the occasion. He said that a healthy Punjab is the passion of the chief minister who has provided billions of rupees for health sector development. Dr Faisal Zahoor said that focal persons for hepatitis control in the DHQ and THQ hospitals will also play an effective role in the waste disposal of products, such as syringes, and a proper training would be imparted to them for this purpose, he added.
Dr Faisal Zahoor, Dr Zahida Sarwar, leading gastroenterologists from the province and experts from the WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF, USAID and from provincial vertical programmes participated in the event.
