PESHAWAR, Feb 28: The National Programme for Prevention and Control of hepatitis is ascertaining the number of hepatitis patients in the province with a view to provide them free treatment facilities, sources said.

The programme, started last year is aiming to spread awareness against the disease, has launched vaccination and screening for hepatitis patients in selected districts of the province that would be completed by March 15.

Sources said that camps have been organised in Mardan and Swabi districts and Kurram Agency so far, whereas similar camps are being planned at Charsadda, Upper Dir, Swat, Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan districts besides Khyber Agency.

During the camps about 6,000 people would be screened and vaccinated. Those found positive for the disease would be treated free of cost through the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Hepatitis.

The federal government had already approved a plan under which it would provide free treatment to hepatitis-C patients in Peshawar, Upper Dir, Mardan, Mansehra, Buner, Chitral and Karak districts besides Bajaur and Kurram Agencies.

Sources said that the government would soon be supplying diagnostic equipment to these areas.

Sources said that similar camps were being in progress throughout the country and AJK on the requests of the provincial governments to prevent the disease.

They said that there was an urgent need to collect a data about hepatitis patients in the country and make strategies to cope with the situation.

By March end, sources said, they would be able to compile computerised data about the patients that would be sent to the federal government. Similar data would also be collected from other provinces and AJK during these camps and later a total number of hepatitis patients would be ascertained.

The programme, sources said, was aiming to spread awareness about the disease besides educating the masses about the causes and preventive measures required to stem the tide of the ailment.

They informed that a PC-I was under process at the Ministry of Health aimed at collecting 49,000 blood samples from people of various areas to know the magnitude of the hepatitis prevalence.

This will be done in collaboration with other public sector departments, such as the Pakistan Medical and Research Council and Expanded Programme on Immunisation, which is also supplementing the programme by vaccinating children within the age of one year against the hepatitis-B.

According to them, more focus was being laid on the preventive side of the disease because the treatment was expensive as well as cumbersome, saying that the cost of one hepatitis-C injection ranged between Rs800 to Rs1,500 and a patient needed 72 injections for six connective months who was required to be administered three injections per week along with capsules.

Whereas for B type of the disease there was neither cure nor vaccination and the only way to be safe from it was its prevention, they said, adding that people needed to be educated about the causative agents of the disease.