Preventing before treating: Govt plans media campaign to increase awareness on Hepatitis-C
Provincial government asked to sanction Rs500 million for the programme.
Provincial government asked to sanction Rs500 million for the programme. DESIGN: ESSA MALIK
PESHAWAR:
As hepatitis cases increase in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the health department has decided to focus on the prevention of the disease by increasing public awareness.
Programmes will be aired on local media and signboards will be placed across the province to educate people about the consequences and preventive measures of the disease.
Hepatitis Control Programme Project Director Ghulam Subhani told The Express Tribune they will soon sign a contract with an advertising agency for the public-awareness messages. For this, the provincial government has been asked to sanction Rs500 million for the current year. Subhani added they had provided medicines to all hospitals in the province and doctors were told to give free treatment to such patients. However, he said, most people were not aware of the facilities.
“Signboards will be installed on all major roads of the province and brochures will be distributed in every educational institution to help educate people,” Subhani said.
The provincial government treated a total of 21,955 patients with Hepatitis C last year, while 195,620 screening tests of Hepatitis C Virus, 163,300 screening tests of Hepatitis B Virus and 24,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were conducted.
Swat remained at the top of the list with most number of patients – 3,910 in only Saidu Group of Hospitals. A total of 3,810 patients were treated in Peshawar’s four hospitals including Lady Reading Hospital, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Hayatabad Medical Complex and City Hospital.
A total of 3,278 patients were treated in Mardan, 1,274 in Buner, 1,060 in Kohat, 890 Shangla and 791 in Battagram. The lowest numbers of patients were treated in Chitral with 50, Karak 115, Bannu 130, Tank 220, Haripur 241, DI Khan 300, Nowshera 335, Upper Dir 360 and Abbottabad 485.
According to the World health Organisation (WHO), Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that results from infection with the hepatitis C virus. It can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness.
It says the incubation period for hepatitis C is two weeks to six months. Following initial infection, approximately 80% of people do not exhibit any symptoms. Those people who are acutely symptomatic may exhibit fever, fatigue, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, grey-coloured faces, joint pain and jaundice (yellowing of skin and the whites of the eyes).
Three to four million people are infected with hepatitis C virus every year. About 150 million people are chronically infected and at risk of developing liver cirrhosis and/or liver cancer. More than 350,000 people die from hepatitis C-related liver diseases every year.
Primary caution
There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. The risk of infection can be reduced by avoiding:
• unnecessary and unsafe injections;
• unsafe blood products;
• unsafe sharps waste collection and disposal;
• use of illicit drugs and sharing of injection equipment;
• unprotected sex with hepatitis C-infected people;
• sharing of sharp personal items that may be contaminated with infected blood;
• tattoos, piercings and acupuncture performed with contaminated equipment.
(Source https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs164/en/)
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2013.
As hepatitis cases increase in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the health department has decided to focus on the prevention of the disease by increasing public awareness.
Programmes will be aired on local media and signboards will be placed across the province to educate people about the consequences and preventive measures of the disease.
Hepatitis Control Programme Project Director Ghulam Subhani told The Express Tribune they will soon sign a contract with an advertising agency for the public-awareness messages. For this, the provincial government has been asked to sanction Rs500 million for the current year. Subhani added they had provided medicines to all hospitals in the province and doctors were told to give free treatment to such patients. However, he said, most people were not aware of the facilities.
“Signboards will be installed on all major roads of the province and brochures will be distributed in every educational institution to help educate people,” Subhani said.
The provincial government treated a total of 21,955 patients with Hepatitis C last year, while 195,620 screening tests of Hepatitis C Virus, 163,300 screening tests of Hepatitis B Virus and 24,000 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were conducted.
Swat remained at the top of the list with most number of patients – 3,910 in only Saidu Group of Hospitals. A total of 3,810 patients were treated in Peshawar’s four hospitals including Lady Reading Hospital, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Hayatabad Medical Complex and City Hospital.
A total of 3,278 patients were treated in Mardan, 1,274 in Buner, 1,060 in Kohat, 890 Shangla and 791 in Battagram. The lowest numbers of patients were treated in Chitral with 50, Karak 115, Bannu 130, Tank 220, Haripur 241, DI Khan 300, Nowshera 335, Upper Dir 360 and Abbottabad 485.
According to the World health Organisation (WHO), Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease that results from infection with the hepatitis C virus. It can range in severity from a mild illness lasting a few weeks to a serious, lifelong illness.
It says the incubation period for hepatitis C is two weeks to six months. Following initial infection, approximately 80% of people do not exhibit any symptoms. Those people who are acutely symptomatic may exhibit fever, fatigue, decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, dark urine, grey-coloured faces, joint pain and jaundice (yellowing of skin and the whites of the eyes).
Three to four million people are infected with hepatitis C virus every year. About 150 million people are chronically infected and at risk of developing liver cirrhosis and/or liver cancer. More than 350,000 people die from hepatitis C-related liver diseases every year.
Primary caution
There is no vaccine for hepatitis C. The risk of infection can be reduced by avoiding:
• unnecessary and unsafe injections;
• unsafe blood products;
• unsafe sharps waste collection and disposal;
• use of illicit drugs and sharing of injection equipment;
• unprotected sex with hepatitis C-infected people;
• sharing of sharp personal items that may be contaminated with infected blood;
• tattoos, piercings and acupuncture performed with contaminated equipment.
(Source https://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs164/en/)
Published in The Express Tribune, February 3rd, 2013.