Disease control: 8.6m patients vaccinated for hepatitis

KARACHI: There were over three million hepatitis patients in Sindh when Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah launched the Hepatitis Prevention and Control Programme in 2009 for Rs2.7 billion. This was said at a meeting held at CM House on Thursday, where it was disclosed that a survey was conducted to ascertain the number of hepatitis patients in Sindh, which revealed that around three million lived in the province, of which 2.5 per cent had hepatitis B and 4.9 per cent hepatitis C. The CM launched the Rs2.7 billion for 2008 to 2011. It started in January 2009 and was extended for another three years at a cost of Rs3.315 billion. Health secretary Saeed Mangnejo said that around 8,608,400 people in the province have been given the hepatitis B vaccine so far. The CM directed the health department to mobilise teams to arrange screening and vaccination camps, particularly in high-risk areas.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 15^th, 2016.