ISLAMABAD: Speakers at the “First Annual HCV Management Symposium” on Friday called for well thought-out efforts at individual and institutional level to eradicate the growing threat of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) from the country.
The two-day event was organized by the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Centre of Virology and Immunology (CVI) in collaboration with the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Developing countries like Pakistan have become susceptible to health hazards, owing to an unprecedented increase in pollution due to industrial mobilisation, the speakers observed.
The theme of the seminar was to share knowledge, new research areas, unexplored territories and experiences regarding Hepatitis C virus and associated diseases. COMSTECH Science Adviser Dr Anwar Nasim asserted that one of the most serious contemporary challenges that the human society faced was to effectively cope with life threatening diseases. “Human health is the most precious asset for any nation without which it becomes too weak to confront the emerging challenges.”
CVI Principal Dr Ishtiaq Qadri pointed out that epidemics of HCV had plagued the entire developing world including Pakistan.
HCV associated diseases impose heavy burdens on national economies and individual families due to costs arising from acute and chronic morbidity and mortality.
The symposium aimed at addressing the spread of Hepatitis C in Pakistan, which is major cause of liver diseases like liver steatosis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, he maintained.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2011.
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