Prevention over cure: PMRC’s survey on hepatitis

Total of around 8.8 million people in the country suffer from the disease; 5.6 million are infected with the virus

KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical and Research Council (PMRC) releases a survey report on the number of hepatitis patients in Pakistan. According to the survey, a total of around 8.8 million people in the country suffer from the disease, while 5.6 million are infected with the virus. Around 5 per cent of Sindh, 6.7 per cent of Punjab, 1.5 per cent in Balochistan and 1.1 per cent of people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have hepatitis. The PMRC experts said that new-born babies should be given the hepatitis vaccine as soon as possible.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 23^rd,  2011.