Cost of hepatitis treatment increases 19 times

ISLAMABAD: With an increasing number of people suffering from hepatitis, the cost of preventive programmes has increased 19 times in less than five years, the documents of the Prime Minister’s Programme for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis reveal.

According to a National Institute of Health (NIH) official, foreign assistance is needed to meet the soaring cost. The cost of the programme has gone up to Rs13.9 billion, an increase of Rs11.3 billion over the years, due to the constant rise in the number of patients who cannot afford the treatment.

The programme was launched in 2005 by the ministry of health and a PC-I was prepared for a five-year programme. However, at that point they did not conduct a survey of the number of patients suffering from the disease.

So far, 37,067 hepatitis C patients and 6,270 hepatitis B patients have been treated free of charge. But with time the number of patients has risen to an alarming 10 million.

The ministry is overwhelmed by the growing number of patients and believes that appropriate advocacy, communication and social and resource mobilisation are required. “Most of the gaps that need to be filled are related to communication as the disease is easily transmittable and there is no awareness about it,” said the official.

“We need to focus on the fact that all over the world 15 per cent of the cost of the project is allocated for media campaigns, but in Pakistan only approximately three per cent is, which is not enough. People need to know about safe injections, invasive medical devices and proper hospital waste management to stop the disease from spreading,” added the official.

The government is concerned about the future as the number of patients increase. “Ever since the project was launched, the issue was discussed on many platforms but till date not a single big donor has stepped forward to help with the biggest health challenge Pakistan faces today,” said the official. “While we cannot cure all the people, we can stop the number from growing further.”

The cost per person of hepatitis B, C and D treatment is Rs100,000. “How will the government manage everything on its own,” the official wondered.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 11^th, 2010.