PHRC issues new guidelines for Hepatitis C

Islamabad: Recognising the need to have standardised treatment guidelines for new treatment regimens of Hepatitis C, the Pakistan Health Research Council (PHRC) has developed up-to-date guidelines governing the treatment of the disease with new drugs that now promise more effective treatment.

The guidelines have been developed with the involvement of all provincial health departments and technical experts from the provinces. Support was also obtained from the Division of Viral Hepatitis of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, USA.

The objective of these guidelines is to provide evidence-based recommendations for government health departments on the care and treatment of persons with HCV infection. The guidelines are destined to provide a framework for the development and strengthening of hepatitis C treatment programmes in Pakistan.

Viral hepatitis is a global health problem that affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Globally, an estimated 1.4 million persons die annually from all types of viral hepatitis. After China, Pakistan has the second highest global burdens of hepatitis C virus infection, with an estimated 5% prevalence, affecting over 8 million people.