KARACHI: Observing World Hepatitis Day on Tuesday, experts said viral hepatitis was a national health problem and carried enormous economic and psychosocial implications as in Pakistan about 15 million people, or one in 13, harboured hepatitis B or C virus.

Speaking at a daylong programme organised by the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), the experts agreed that creating awareness of the dangers of hepatitis and its prevention was of paramount importance.

Several programmes were held in Karachi as elsewhere in the country and the rest of the world to spread awareness among the masses about risks, prevention and mode of transmission of hepatitis.

This year the theme of world hepatitis day was ‘Prevent hepatitis — it’s up to you’.

Organisers said keeping in view the importance of preventive aspects of viral hepatitis, SIUT organised the event of public awareness at its Hanifa Suleman complex on Tuesday. All the participants were screened for hepatitis B. The first shot of Hepatitis B vaccine was given to all participants with the schedule and appointment for a follow-up vaccine.

An awareness video was also shown to help people identify the risks of the disease, its mode of transmission, and learn preventive measures.

Expert doctors and dieticians took part in the question and answer session with the audience and gave advice for dietary modification, identification of risk factor and harm-reduction strategies. The attendees were also informed that hepatitis was a progressive disease and could lead to end-stage liver disease, the ultimate treatment of which was liver transplantation.

They said that due to lack of organ donation many patients died from organ failure. They called for a culture of organ donation in the country to save precious lives as deceased organ donation was the backbone of organ transplantation worldwide. The experts said some 80 of worldwide transplantation relied on that culture of donation.

They stressed the use of boiled water and habit of hand washing after eating, using washroom and changing diapers as an important preventive measure. They said people should emphasise the use of new syringes at clinics, razor blades at barber shops, and sterilised dental and surgical equipments in case of procedures. Sterilisation should also be verified for instruments used during pedicure and manicure. Before blood transfusion, people should check that it had duly been screened for hepatitis B and C.

Around 700 people attended the event.

Other events

Several organisations and medical institutions held similar programmes in the city to mark the day.

A public awareness seminar was organised by the National Institute of Liver and GI Diseases (NILGID) and the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) in which experts said hepatitis had emerged as a major global health problem and needed urgent prevention and control. They said that hepatitis B and C could be transmitted through the use of infected blood, the use of contaminated syringes during medical procedures or injection drug use.

Diagnosing the disease at an early stage and proper treatment reduced the disease by 90 per cent. They said the DUHS would start liver transplantation next month. Prof Rana Qamar Masood, director, NILGID, Prof Hafeez Ullah Shaikh, Dr Tayyab Usmani, Dr Sabihta Shaikh, liver transplant surgeon Shams Nadeem Alam and others spoke.

The NILGID and the DUHS also organised a walk on the Ojha campus and held a free hepatitis testing and screening camp.

Dr Laila Rizvi, head of the Health Foundation, said that during a blood screening camp at the Patel Hospital that in Pakistan hepatitis was spreading rapidly and killing more than 400 people daily and more than 150,000 yearly.

She said polluted water, illegal industrial poisonous water discharge and environment pollution were the key causes of hepatitis A.

She added that data suggested a moderate to high prevalence of hepatitis B and C in parts of Sindh, especially in Dadu, Ghotki, Khairpur and Sanghar districts, was caused by contaminated needles used in medical care, drug abuse and unsafe blood and blood products transfusion.

The Karachi Press Club also organised a seminar on its premises in which experts termed hepatitis a national issue, which needed to be got rid of.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2015

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