RAWALPINDI, Oct 18: Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) in a joint venture with Pakistan Society of Hepatology (PSH) is all set to kick off a “Hepatitis B Disease Management Programme” in six cities including Islamabad, officials announced during a press conference held at a local press club on Saturday.

The PMA president, Dr Mazhar Malik, along with Dr Hassan Khawar, Dr A A Durrani, Dr Muzaffar Gil and Dr Javid Faisal spoke in detail about the programme.

The programme, the speakers said, would be started under the title of “Hayat-e-Nau” by establishing screening centres in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan, Quetta and Karachi. These centres would be operative from Oct 20 to 25 and their location would be advertised in the newspapers, they said.

They said Hepatitis B test would be conducted free of cost for general public, while people could get a full course of vaccination for only Rs900.

Unfortunately, they said, as many as 15 per cent people were suffering from Hepatitis B in the country, while the number of the affected people was rising at a fast pace that could be attributed to the use of infected apparatus of dental surgeons, quacks, barbers, ear and nose piercing needles and infected syringes. Besides, the transfusion of infected blood and transmission of disease from infected mother to the new-born baby had added to the problem, the said.

They said due to lack of diagnostic facilities, a big number of people were unable to know that they were suffering from Hepatitis B and unknowingly transmitting the disease to others. The media, they said, should play its due role in creating awareness among the people about the disease.