Over 15 million people in Pakistan have been infected with the deadly hepatitis B virus and the lack of adequate measures may increase the figure two fold in the next five years, warned National Institute of Health (NIH) and Health Ministry sources. Hepatitis-B is a deadly liver disease with the same mode of transmission as AIDS.

They said NIH had been facing problems in rural areas where parents were not very cooperative when it came to immunising their children. Sources said several national-level surveys indicated the growing prevalence of the disease.

However, sources from the national anti-hepatitis immunisation programme maintains that prevalence rate of hepatitis B is not more than 5.8 percent among the population in Pakistan. There may be around 8 million patients infected with hepatitis B in the country. Some private organisations were exaggerating the figure by claiming that the rate is 25 to 30 percent in the country, they say.

Up to 350 million people are carriers of the hepatitis B virus worldwide. Medical experts believe the hepatitis B virus is spreading fast because of ignorance among patients and the lack of proper preventive measures. The hepatitis has five types: A, B, C, D and E. The A and E types are caused through oral infection, contaminated water and unhygienic food while B, C and D are spread through un-sterilised syringes, sexual intercourse, blood transfusion and from a mother to a new born baby.

Because of a shortage of funds, the government has planned to target the young population. It began the first phase of the programme last year by vaccinating children under the age of one.

The national programme was launched with the financial backing of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), which is financially supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The aim was to immunise every newly born child.

By the end of 2005, Pakistan will get 81.1 million doses from GAVI, immunising more than 21 million children. Three doses per child are administered at the age of six weeks, 10 weeks and 14 weeks, along with the three polio vaccinations. Medical exporters say the symptoms of hepatitis B can include abdominal pain, fever, fatigue, the lack of appetite, nausea, jaundice and dark urine. There is no cure for hepatitis B although bed rest and dietary changes can alleviate some of the symptoms. Blood, semen, saliva and vaginal secretions transmit the disease. It is claimed that the hepatitis B virus is 100 times more concentrated in the blood than the HIV virus, making it much easier to spread.

Hepatitis C virus - often called the "silent epidemic" - can live in the body for decades, often with no symptoms, while attacking the liver. Long-term consequences of hepatitis C can include liver disease, liver cancer, and death. There is also no cure for hepatitis C and no vaccine.