KARACHI, Dec 5: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan has called for better interaction among the member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) in all fields of health care, including hepatology, through sharing of experiences.

He was talking to a delegation of hepatologists from Saarc states which called on him at the Governor’s House on Tuesday.

The governor said that since the Saarc states were facing identical socio-economic challenges, they were experiencing the same kinds of problems. He stressed upon the experts to use their research, expertise and treatment experiences regarding liver diseases for the benefit of mankind without any discrimination of caste, creed and colour.

He called for devising a joint strategy to provide necessary information about liver diseases to masses. By ensuring hygienic and preventive measures, expenses on treatment could greatly be reduced, he said.

Dr Ibad agreed with the hepatologists that measures should be taken to bring down prices of medicines.

The meeting was informed that for the past five years, every newborn in Pakistan was being vaccinated for hepatitis free of cost. It was also briefed on spread of liver diseases and bottlenecks in its treatment.—PPI