World Hepatitis Day: ‘Preventing hepatitis is up to you’

SIUT holds day-long awareness camp, free screenings

KARACHI: 'Prevent Hepatitis. It's up to you!' was the theme of the World Hepatitis Day event organised by the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) at Hanifa Suleman Complex on Tuesday.

The day-long awareness camp included free-of-charge check-ups, ultrasounds, tests and vaccinations. The corridors buzzed with people of all ages as they waited for their turns for the liver function test.

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"Hepatitis A and E viruses are spread by contaminated food and water," said Dr Abbas Ali, as he gave a presentation on prevention in an adjacent auditorium. "Hepatitis B and C are spread by body secretions, transfusion of infected blood or non-sterilized equipment used on the body — whether it's for manicures or pedicures or a dental surgery or shaving blade to getting tattoos with an non-sterilized needle."

His presentation was followed by a question-answer session in which the doctor spoke about identifying risk factors and ways to reduce harm from hepatitis. Dr Ali also informed the audience that hepatitis B and C is a progressive disease and can lead to end stage liver disease. The ultimate treatment is therefore liver transplantation but due to the lack of availability of donors and donations, people die of organ failure, he said. A culture of organ donation needs to start, the doctors stressed.

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"Liver transplantation is needed after organ failure in certain cases," said Dr Farina Hanif, a consultant at SIUT. "People should donate organs after their death. One donor can save eight lives by donating and they can modify at least 17 lives by giving different organs." The out-patients' department is open every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday to give free vaccinations and hepatitis C treatment to patients, she pointed out.

The doctors also discussed various methods to prevent the transmission of hepatitis, such as practicing safe sex, sterilizing equipments before using, washing hands after using the toilet and eating clean food.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2015.