KARACHI: The Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) has introduced urea breath test, an effective, easy and cost-efficient way to diagnose helicobacter, a type of bacteria more commonly known as H. Pylori.

The DUHS diagnostic test will be available at 51 testing facilities in Karachi including the main Dow lab at Ojha campus, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Quetta at low rates.

“The people of Sindh and Balochistan will benefit from the facility. The test is 98 per cent effective,” said Vice Chancellor DUHS Prof Muhammad Saeed Quraishy at a gathering held for the test’s launch.

Eighty per cent of the population in Pakistan was affected by H. pylori for which no effective test had been available that had immediate result, he added.

“Research has shown that certain types of H. pylori also increase the risk of gastric cancer. Late diagnosis can lead to gastric ulcers. Studies suggest that more than 90 per cent of small intestine ulcers are caused by H. pylori. Hence, it is needed to be diagnosed at an early stage,” he said.

As eating habits and consumption of unhealthy foods in Pakistan were increasing, the cases of gastrointestinal diseases especially H pylori are also on the rise, he added.

Part of the event was a briefing on the diagnostic machine during which the audience was informed by speakers that it’s for the first time that the test had been introduced in the public sector in the country.

It was pointed out that the main reason for the ineffectiveness of H-pylori diagnosis through blood was that once a person developed the infection, its effects remained in the blood despite treatment that was why blood tests were often positive.

“The machine had been installed in 4,065 locations worldwide. It’s available in private hospitals and laboratories in all major cities of Pakistan,” said chief executive officer of Otsuka-Pakistan Hanif Sattar.

“The results of urea breath test are obtained in 20 minutes and the method is also simple. You only have to breathe in an empty bag because in H. pylori infection the germs convert urea present in the body into carbon dioxide and the machine will show the levels of carbon dioxide,” he said.

Published in Dawn, June 23rd, 2022