Poor sewerage, lack of knowledge hampering control of disease. PHOTO: AFP
They stated that free treatment was imperative since the treatment of Hepatitis was too expensive for the common people.
“We have all kinds of Hepatitis and for some, the symptoms do not appear,” said Professor Dr Javed Iqbal Farooqi while addressing a seminar at a local hotel on Wednesday. “The B and C types could really be dangerous since for Hepatitis C [symptoms], It takes at least around 30 years to treat.”
Health practitioners stated that over 10 million people in the country were currently infected with hepatitis while as many as 200,000 are infected annually.
Prof Farooqi added that the single largest hurdle in controlling the spread of Hepatitis B in the country was the poor sewerage system.
Previously, he said that doctors used to encounter two or three cases of Cirrhosis [late stage of scarring (fibrosis) of the liver caused by many forms of liver diseases and conditions, such as hepatitis and chronic alcoholism] but now, four to five patients visit health experts every day which ultimately leads to liver cancer
He also stressed on the need to improve awareness surrounding the disease, especially in the curriculum for medical students.
During an awareness session, Dr Musharraf Kamal said that they had included medics in the high-risk groups adding that dental and surgical units too must adopt precautionary measures since they could become a victim of the deadly disease.
He stressed on the need for mandatory screening for patients admitted to health facilities and that medics must take care while dropping infected blood and tissues into identified places adding that dialysis should not be used repeatedly by people with kidney diseases.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th, 2017.
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