PESHAWAR: The health department has restarted a programme meant to give an injectable birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine to the babies to protect them from the viral infection.

The programme was launched in 2013 but came to a halt a year later due to the vaccine shortage at hospitals.

The programme resumed last month after a gap of two years as the hospitals were provided with vaccines.

The vaccine dose costing Rs300 has been given to patients free of charge.

The World Health Organisation had recommended the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine last year asking member countries to include the said vaccination in their immunisation programmes in light of the latest researches, which showed its effectiveness.

The health initiative was suspended in 2014 over vaccine shortage

According to its managers, the programme seeks to immunise children due to the high incidence of hepatitis and thus, containing the viral disease.

“Only 38 per cent children born at hospitals get vaccination within 24 hours after their births,” manager of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hepatitis Control Programme Dr Kalimullah Khan told Dawn.

According to Dr Kalim, the birth dose against hepatitis B vaccine is given to newborns worldwide for providing lifelong protection against liver problems.

“Our programme has issued 80,000 vaccine doses to the Expanded Programme on Immunisation for the first quarter of the year. The newborn babies should get vaccination at the nearby EPI centres in hospitals,” he said.

The programme manager said birth doses provided lifelong safety against hepatitis B to 90-94 percent recipients and therefore, a focus was given on the creation of awareness among the people of their children’s vaccination.

“Children can also be brought to the hospitals for vaccination,” he said.

Dr Kalim said at a later stage, the programme’s collaborations with private hospitals and maternity homes were possible to ensure the vaccination of newborn babies against the viral disease.

“To reach more children is a challenge for the department as most deliveries take place at homes where vaccination is available. However, we have planned enhanced advocacy to inform the people about the facility to the benefit of more and more children,” he said.

The programme manager said hepatitis B was prevalent among four per cent of the population, while from five to seven percent suffered from hepatitis C in KP.

“Given its high prevalence, we provide free treatment to both types of hepatitis,” he said.

Dr Kalim said free hepatitis B dose was also given to hepatitis C patients due to high vulnerability.

“We started the free oral treatment of hepatitis C patients two months ago. Dozens of patients have tested negative for the disease,” he said.

The programme manager said currently, 9,000 people got oral medication for hepatitis C and that they were also given free PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test and investigative facilities.

He said around 5,000 more patients were expected to be registered for hepatitis C treatment. Dr Kalim said the patients coming in from far-off areas were issued medicines for two months.

“The patients should visit hepatitis clinics operating at all district hospitals for certain tests and prescribed drugs for both hepatitis B and C,” he said.

He added that awareness campaigns had been planned to inform the people about the causes of hepatitis and ways to prevent and control it.

Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2017