Hepatitis Free Rawalpindi: A dream that can be fulfilled if stakeholders are sincere

MKRMS organises awareness seminar

Rawalpindi: Making Rawalpindi free of hepatitis is a dream that can be fulfilled if all the stakeholders both in public and private sectors along with population of the region work sincerely for the cause.

It is what that the experts expressed in a special public health awareness seminar organised by Mir Khalil-ur-Rehman Memorial Society (MKRMS) in collaboration with Feroz Sons Laboratories (Pvt Ltd), Society of Therapeutic and Endoscopy Pakistan and Advance GI and Liver Centre here in a local hotel on Sunday.

Principal Rawalpindi Medical College and chief of Centre for Liver and Digestive Diseases (CLD) at Holy Family Hospital Professor Dr. Muhammad Umar presided over the seminar that was attended by MNA Malik Abrar Ahmed and PML-N leader Muhammad Hanif Abbasi and along with a number of senior healthcare professionals from Rawalpindi, Wah Cantonment and Lahore.

Senior Editor Health Care Education from MKRMS Wasif Nagi initiated the proceedings of the seminar and introduced the guest speakers to the audience that include healthcare professionals, patients and representatives from society.

In the inaugural speech, Principal Wah Medical College Professor Dr. Waseem-ud-din informed the audience that in Pakistan, as many as 8.8 million people are suffering from hepatitis C while 4 to 4.4 million from hepatitis B and the high incidence of hepatitis in the country is mainly because of practice of unnecessary injections, drips, blood transfusion and use of non-sterilized surgical equipment.

To make city free from hepatitis, there is a need to promote the culture of prevention as hepatitis is a preventable disease, he said.

Professor of Gastroenterology at Fauji Foundation Hospital Dr. Tasawwar Hussain, while talking to audience said reduction in cases of hepatitis B has been witnessed in last few years but cases of hepatitis C are still on the rise mainly because majority of people are unaware of proper preventive measures to avoid the disease.

He said medical care treatment facilities including hospitals and diagnostic laboratories are playing a major role in spreading the disease by entertaining patients who are following a habit of getting unnecessary tests, injections, endoscopies and like procedures. Unnecessary pricking by needles would have to be discouraged to make country free from hepatitis, he said.

Chief Operating Officer Punjab Healthcare Commission Dr. Muhammad Ajmal Khan while talking to the audience said the healthcare service providers in Pakistan did not give attention to regulate issues pertaining to health in the past that caused spread of a number of health threats including hepatitis. Medical abuse and quackery are needed to be eliminated to control hepatitis and a number of other life-threatening ailments, he said.

Media should give free space to public awareness on health issues but should not give any space to paid contents by quacks, he said.

Principal RMC Professor Umar then took the stage and informed the audience that despite limited resources available, he selected the dream of making city free from hepatitis and put the idea before his team including MKRMS and other stakeholders.

He said hepatitis is second major cause of death at the three allied hospitals in town that treat nearly three million patients every year. Around five per cent of our population is infected with hepatitis C and keeping this in mind, we decided to take step for screening of whole of the population in the district for hepatitis C, he said.

In the first phase, our team would screen 100,000 people for the disease and the patients confirmed for hepatitis after testing would be given free of cost treatment, he explained. He said he is expecting nearly 5000 patients in the first phase needing medical care. These patients would be managed through donations, he explained.

Addressing the participants of the seminar, Hanif Abbasi said he would do all out efforts to make city free from hepatitis and would be with the team of Dr. Umar in this noble cause.

MNA Malik Abrar also ensured his maximum support to the team of professionals in making Rawalpindi hepatitis free.