PESHAWAR, May 10: Free medical treatment was provided to 164 hepatitis patients while 840 prisoners and jail personnel in Kohat were vaccinated under the prime minister’s programme for control and prevention of hepatitis.

This was stated by Dr Ihsanullah Turabi, programme’s provincial coordinator, at a seminar here on Thursday, a press release said.

District Nazim Gohar Saifullah and MPA Kalb-e-Hassan also addressed the meeting.

Speakers said that South Asian countries were at higher hepatitis risk.

He said that in Pakistan, the prevalence of hepatitis B was 3 per cent to 5 per cent while the incidence of hepatitis C was 5 per cent to 7 per cent.

“Healthcare providers, thalassaemia patients and intravenous drugs users were among high-risk groups,” he said.

Earlier, an advocacy seminar was arranged to secure elected representatives’ support to make the campaign against the disease a success.