PESHAWAR, May 10: The Pakistan Medical and Research Council has launched a hepatitis awareness campaign in the rural areas of Nowshera district in an effort to check the spread of the disease. The project, which is to be carried out in four phases over a period of two years, is the first of its kind. The World Health Organisation has pledged Rs800,000 and the Pakistan Science Foundation an additional Rs300,000 for the project.

Ten villages in Nowshera district, including Pushtoon Garhi, Azakhel, Kaka Sahib, Muhib Banda, Dag Behsud, Bacha Ustad Killey, Wazir Garhi, Dag Ismail Khel, Saleh Khana, Dagai and Tetara, have been selected for the project, according to Dr Mir Hassan, the project director, who is a research officer at the Khyber Medical College’s branch of the Pakistan Medical and Research Council.

In the first phase, a proforma containing 34 questions will be distributed in the selected areas with a view to collecting information about them such as their age, career, monthly income, marital status and health criteriion. For this purpose, a four-member team had been constituted to conduct the interviews of 3,000 families so far, he said.

According to him, after completion of the survey, the worst affected village would be taken as a model in the second phase of the project during which the people there would be screened for hepatitis and free vaccines would be administered to all the families.

A state-of-the-art clinical laboratory has been established to screen the people of the village for hepatitis, he said. Screening services are also being provided through a mobile laboratory, he added.

Dr Hassan said that he personally visits the area twice a week and gave necessary instructions to the people of the area and those involved in interviews of the people to make the exercise foolproof.

Upon completion of the screening and vaccination of the people at the model village, an exercise which would be completed by June, the results would be analysed and the project would be extended to other localities. Moreover, a policy is to be formulated on the prevention and treatment program of the dreaded ailment once the vaccination results and screening in the model village is completed.

According to him, ten per cent of the population in Nowshera district suffer from hepatitis B, whereas five per cent are stricken with hepatitis C.

Last year, a survey by the WHO showed that 30 per cent of the population in Nowshera district suffered either from hepatitis B or C or both. The world health agency cited the presence of Afghan refugees, quacks and use of unsterilised equipment by medical practitioners as a probable cause.