Need of the hour: All OPDs to have hepatitis centres

Hepatitis centres will be established in the out-patient departments (OPDs) of all government hospitals, announced health minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar while presiding over a meeting at his office on Tuesday. Sindh hepatitis control programme director Dr Khalique Shaikh and Civil hospital, Sukkur medical superintendent Dr Abu Bakar Shaikh also attended the meeting. Dahar was informed that in the current month, 3,248 new hepatitis patients were registered and as many as 25,574 are under treatment while around 186,331 had completed their treatment.  The health minister said "It should be ensured that hepatitis vaccination process must be completed. Parents, teachers and all other stakeholders should be taken on board to create awareness about this fatal disease." Dahar directed Shaikh to complete the vaccination of children in government schools and WhatsApp all the details, such as the school's and headmaster's name daily so the performance of vaccinators could be verified.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2016.