Our hepatitis crisis

Pakistan's growing hepatitis C burden has become a damning indictment of its public healthcare system. Figures recently presented by the Ministry of National Health Services to the National Assembly reveal that an estimated nine million people are living with hepatitis C, placing Pakistan at the top of the global list. Another 3.86 million suffer from hepatitis B, while around 48,000 people die annually from hepatitis-related complications. It is therefore clear that the country is confronting a public health crisis that can no longer be allowed to worsen.

Pakistan's predicament is especially alarming as the disease continues to spread through largely avoidable practices. Unsafe injections and the reuse of contaminated syringes remain major transmission risks. The proliferation of unregulated clinics and poorly supervised healthcare facilities compounds the danger. What makes this crisis particularly unacceptable is the availability of highly effective treatment. Modern antiviral medicines can cure more than 95% of hepatitis C infections, often within eight to twelve weeks. However, access to early diagnosis and treatment remains limited, particularly among low-income communities and rural populations. The infection can remain asymptomatic for years, allowing it to progress undetected until irreversible liver damage has occurred.

The government's commitment to eliminating hepatitis C by 2030 must therefore translate into a coordinated national response rather than another ambitious declaration. The PM's Hepatitis Control Programme provides an existing framework, but its effectiveness depends heavily on implementation at the provincial and district levels. Health authorities must enforce strict sterilisation protocols and eliminate syringe reuse and strengthen the regulation of blood banks and private healthcare establishments.

With the 2030 elimination deadline approaching, the country has little time to squander. The tragedy is that a curable disease continues to claim thousands of lives because the healthcare system has failed to prevent its spread.