LAHORE, Dec 5: Pakistan Society of Hepatology head Prof Syed Sibitul Hasnain has claimed the incidence of Hepatitis-B is decreasing in the country owing to the awareness created among masses during the last one decade. However, he said, the incidence of Hepatitis-C is showing an increasing trend because it could not be avoided by vaccines but preventive practices. He said the incidence of Hepatitis-B in the country was around five per cent, while that of Hepatitis-C was around seven per cent.

He said both Hepatitis-B and C were blood-borne diseases, and affect the body through unscreened blood transfusion, infected surgical instruments and syringes, pricking of nose and ears etc. He said the Hepatitis A and E were water-borne diseases that get cured automatically.

Prof Hasnain was speaking at a news conference at Allama Iqbal Medical College on Monday to announce the holding of a two-day Fifth International Hepatology Congress being organized by the PSH at a local hotel from Dec 10.

Prof Hasnain, who is also Congress’ organizing committee chairman, said the Hepatitis-C virus was very tricky and no vaccine had so far been developed to prevent it. However, he said, the Hepatitis-B vaccine was available. He said the Punjab government had also included free vaccination of children against Hepatitis-B in its routine immunization programme.

He said the incidence of Hepatitis-C was so high that all members of many families had contacted the disease and were suffering with no regular treatment available. He said the diagnosis as well as treatment of Hepatitis-C was very expensive, and most families in the country could not afford it. He said the administration of medicines to treat Hepatitis-C also required close monitoring by a doctor as these had many side-effects.

Answering a question, he said the onslaught of these diseases was much higher in developing countries, including Pakistan, than in the developed world. He said there were 400 million Hepatitis-B carriers in the world, of whom 250 million lived in Asia. He also said there were 160 million Hepatitis-C patients in the world.

Prof Hasnain stressed the need to develop indigenous quality vaccines as well as medicines to prevent and treat these fatal diseases at a relatively lower cost.

Speaking on the occasion, Congress’ scientific committee chairman and Shaikh Zayed Postgraduate Medical Institute/ Shaikh Zayed Hospital dean Prof Anwaar A Khan said the Hepatitis-C was not a death warrant and this myth needed to be nullified.

He said only 30 per cent Hepatitis-C patients continued to suffer for a long time, while the remaining 70 per cent patients’ liver started functioning normally after a proper treatment. “Still, the Hepatitis-C tests show positive results, but liver starts functioning normally,” he said.

Prof Khan said the Congress would serve as a milestone as it would discuss all liver-related issues in detail in the presence of foreign experts. He said the congress would provide the local experts an opportunity to compare their work with that produced at international level.

He said research articles about the diagnosis of the disease and its treatment would be presented at the Congress. He said it would also include a teleconference where foreign experts would interact with the local ones in front of the participants. He said a video session would also be organized to highlight the work and research being done in Pakistan. “Pakistan is not behind any country but there are some resource constraints,” he said.