‘10pc Sargodha residents carriers of hepatitis’

SARGODHA: At least 10 per cent population of Sargodha district is suffering from hepatitis and all the departments concerned should join hands with the health department to create awareness among the masses in this regard.

Chairing a special session, conducted under the Punjab Hepatitis Control Programme, here on Sunday, Deputy Commissioner Salwat Saeed directed all the assistant commissioners concerned to adopt an appropriate mechanism to create awareness among the masses through ‘Numberdars’ in the villages.

She also urged the clerics to use their influence for educating people about this fatal disease. Medicines and vaccines for all types of hepatitis were available in the district hospitals. The DC said the government was planning to make possible HIV tests before marriages and a law was also being prepared in this regard. The provincial government had also given approval for the purchase of Rs3.1 million PCR machines for diagnosis of hepatitis at the District Teaching Hospital, she said.