LAHORE: Chronic liver diseases are no more a big problem for the masses as hundreds of successful transplants have become a ray of hope for the patients in South Asia.

This was said by renowned Indian liver transplant expert Dr AS Soin while addressing a seminar on “Awareness against hepatitis epidemic”, jointly organised by the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Liver Care Society of Pakistan at the LCCI on Saturday.

LCCI President Ijaz A Mumtaz, vice president Syed Mahmood Ghaznavi, health adviser to chief minister Khwaja Salman Rafique, Liver Care Society of Pakistan Chairman Anwarul Husain Alvi, Punjab Blood Transfusion Authority Secretary Dr Muhammad Jafar Saleem and Dr Israrul Haq Toor also spoke on the occasion.

Dr Soin, who offered his services for Pakistani doctors who intend to train for liver transplantation, said it was very unfortunate that one out of every 13 adults was suffering from liver disease.

Those suffering from chronic liver disease should go to their doctor without any further delay as hepatitis C could be worse than cancer, he warned.

He said that he had performed 108 liver transplants of Pakistani patients in India suffering from the disease and they were living a healthy life. He said though in Pakistan the liver transplantation was in its infancy, with the passage of time the situation would improve as the country had a large number of world class doctors.

Mr Mumtaz on behalf of LCCI lauded the services of Dr Soin in the field, saying the chamber would continue to support all efforts aimed at mitigating the sufferings of ailing humanity.

He demanded the government should establish special hospitals for liver transplantation. He said there were many patients in Pakistan who could not avail medical facilities in India due to cost and visa restrictions.

He said frequent collaboration between Pakistani and Indian doctors could raise the knowledge base and exposure to its treatment. In this connection, guidance from experts like Dr Soin should be taken, he added.

He said the seminar was aimed at creating awareness among the members of LCCI, medical professionals and the masses about the serious health threat posed by hepatitis epidemic.

“Hepatitis has emerged as (a) deadly disease and has posed serious challenges to medical science. Although, the medical science has taken long journey in search of absolute cure for these diseases, concrete results are yet to be achieved in this regard”, the LCCI president said.

Anwarul Husain Alvi said 185 million people were suffering from hepatitis, while 0.35 million were dying every year in Pakistan due to liver related diseases. He stressed the need for planning to avert the disease.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2015

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