KARACHI, Aug 9: The country is currently estimated to have four percent of the total population suffering from hepatitis C, with a similar percentage carrying the hepatitis B virus.

Dr Zaigham Abbas, general secretary of the Pakistan Society of Gastroenterology, in a statement here on Saturday, said the fact that 12 million people were infected with the two ailments called for addressing the problem on realistic lines.

He said many of those patients had end-stage liver diseases and were suffering from a wide range of complications as blood vomiting, collection of fluid in the abdomen, unconsciousness and liver cancer. “Managing

Dr Zaigham also referred to the growing vulnerability of hepatitis B patients to cirrhosis and liver failure leaving them liver transplantation as the only option for survival.

Gastroenterologists from across the country will present their papers on the occasion.— APP