PESHAWAR, June 1: Experts have warned that administrating hepatitis C injections to patients without proper assessment and pre-treatment tests could lead to complications and even death.

“Patients with cirrhotic liver, ascites, low levels of haemoglobin and spleen problems shouldn’t be administered interferon injections even if they are positive for hepatitis C,” haematologist Dr Amir Ghafoor at the Hayatabad Medical Complex said on Friday.

Briefing journalists on the prime minister’s programme for the prevention and control of hepatitis, he said the NWFP had been given 1,000 hepatitis C injections for the treatment of zakat deserving patients. The HMC had received 300 injections through which 175 patients were treated, he said.

Dr Ghafoor complained that patients suffering from liver cirrhosis, ascites and spleen problems were being administered injections by doctors without carrying out appropriate tests that often lead to their deaths.

He informed that more than Rs100,000 was required to treat a single patient and under the 10-year prime minister’s programme launched in August 2006, free treatment would be provided to needy people at a cost of Rs2.8 bn.

“Treatment period is six months. Patients need 72 injections, three per week. But during the treatment certain tests are required. Otherwise, wrong treatments can backfire,” he warned. The cost of one injection is Rs1,000 that should be given under the supervision of a haematologist, he added. He said they had constituted a viral hepatitis management committee to recommend treatments for the patients. “More than 80 per cent patients of Hepatitis C don’t fulfil the technical requirements for treatment, but they still insist on the injections,” he said.