Hepatitis is growing rapidly in Pakistan and the government needs to bring the disease under control before more people become its victim, Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) President Dr Umar Ayub Khan, said recently.
Impure water, defective sewage, reuse of syringes, dental extraction, reuse of razors at barber shops, unscreened blood transfusion, sexual contact with an infected partner and contaminated surgical instruments are the main causes of the disease's spread.
"All these causes need to addressed or else the disease will devour many more people soon," said Dr Khan.
Provincial Health Ministry figures show that around 90 lakh and 1.4 crore Pakistanis are affected with hepatitis B and C. The treatment cost of hepatitis B (medicine only) for 25 per cent of the affected people was Rs 660 crore and the cost for hepatitis C treatment (medicine only) for 30 per cent of the diseased was Rs 480 crore. Dr Khan said undiagnosed cases that occurred at a later age were very difficult to treat as undiagnosed patients faced various complications. He said there was a need for mass awareness to prevent the disease from spreading.
The PMA president, who launched an anti-hepatitis drive and immunised around 30,000 people in the province during his tenure as Frontier PMA president, said a specialist doctor should immediately be consulted if the following symptoms emerged: nausea, vomiting, distaste to tea, coffee, cigarettes etc, discomfort in right hypochondrium (right side of abdomen), high coloured urine and yellow eyes. Though it is expensive, the immunisation course is available for all age groups. Some pharmaceutical firms cooperate with the government and provide the vaccine at subsidised rates. A pharmaceutical company will provide the vaccine at low rates during anti-hepatitis week being launched today (Monday) by the Frontier government.
A hepatitis B course consists of three injections, said Dr Umar Ayub, who is also additional medical superintendent of the Police Hospital. He said the first injection was administered at a selected date, the second one month after that date and the third six months after the first injection. "The vaccine lasts five years and will need a booster after that," he said.
He said that blood was not screened in tehsil hospitals, adding that a few years ago, blood screening was not available even in teaching hospitals. However, screening is available in most hospitals now, said the doctor. "You might be transferring death serum to your patient in the form of unscreened blood," he said. The reuse of syringes and used blades or razors at barbershops is common in villages. Surgical instruments are not sterilized even in major cities. "Quack dentists are wreaking havoc with the life of the general public as they don't sterilise their instruments," said Dr Ayub. Besides, sterilisation of surgical instruments was not up to standard in most centres of the province, he said.
- (Daily Times)