Combating crises: Hepatitis cases on the rise in Dost Muhammad Khaskeli Goth
Of the 40 people screened in the camp, 20 turned out to be hepatitis patients.
Of the 40 people screened in the camp, 20 turned out to be hepatitis patients.PHOTOS: EXPRESS/FILE
KARACHI:
Around 40 per cent population of Dost Muhammad Khaskheli Goth, a suburb in Karachi, suffers from hepatitis B and C, said Pakistan Research and Development Organisation (Prado) chief executive Prof Fateh Muhammad Burfat.
He was speaking at the Hepatitis Screening Camp, jointly organised by Hepatitis Prevention and Control Programme (HPCP), Health and Nutrition Development Society (Hands) and Prado at Dost Muhammad Khaskeli Goth, Malir.
Lamenting the fact that there is no basic health centre for the people of this area, he counted poverty, illiteracy and contaminated water as the major factors of the high incidence of hepatitis cases in the area. It is unfortunate that almost half of the population, which is not more than 5,000 in the suburb, suffers from hepatitis. More women and children suffer from it than men, he informed. Of the 40 people screened in the camp, 20 turned out to be hepatitis patients. Citing the high cost and long duration of the treatment of the disease as a cause, Burfat said that cases of hepatitis C have taken a toll in the goth.
HPCP provincial manager Dr Zahoor Baloch said that awareness is the key to counter the prevalent disease. He informed that the HPCP is working towards combating hepatitis B, C and D across the province. Plans to set up more hepatitis screening camps in Karachi and other parts of Sindh are well underway with the collaboration of other NGOs, he added.
Meanwhile, the persons detected in the camp as patients of hepatitis B, C and D will be admitted to Civil Hospital, Karachi, for further treatment.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2014.
Around 40 per cent population of Dost Muhammad Khaskheli Goth, a suburb in Karachi, suffers from hepatitis B and C, said Pakistan Research and Development Organisation (Prado) chief executive Prof Fateh Muhammad Burfat.
He was speaking at the Hepatitis Screening Camp, jointly organised by Hepatitis Prevention and Control Programme (HPCP), Health and Nutrition Development Society (Hands) and Prado at Dost Muhammad Khaskeli Goth, Malir.
Lamenting the fact that there is no basic health centre for the people of this area, he counted poverty, illiteracy and contaminated water as the major factors of the high incidence of hepatitis cases in the area. It is unfortunate that almost half of the population, which is not more than 5,000 in the suburb, suffers from hepatitis. More women and children suffer from it than men, he informed. Of the 40 people screened in the camp, 20 turned out to be hepatitis patients. Citing the high cost and long duration of the treatment of the disease as a cause, Burfat said that cases of hepatitis C have taken a toll in the goth.
HPCP provincial manager Dr Zahoor Baloch said that awareness is the key to counter the prevalent disease. He informed that the HPCP is working towards combating hepatitis B, C and D across the province. Plans to set up more hepatitis screening camps in Karachi and other parts of Sindh are well underway with the collaboration of other NGOs, he added.
Meanwhile, the persons detected in the camp as patients of hepatitis B, C and D will be admitted to Civil Hospital, Karachi, for further treatment.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 15th, 2014.