PESHAWAR, Nov 14: The federal government’s programme for providing free treatment and diagnosis of hepatitis will now cover the remaining six districts of the Frontier province and three tribal agencies, an official says.

The Prime Minister’s Hepatitis Control Programme has already been launched in 18 districts and three tribal agencies of the NWFP and Fata.

The new districts to be included are Nowshera, Shangla, Hangu, Haripur, Battagram and Swabi, and the new agencies are Mohmand, North Waziristan and Orakzai.

“A summary in this regard has been sent to the NWFP secretary health for approval,” the official said, adding that the decision to extend the programme had been taken in view of the rising number of patients suffering from the disease.

Studies conducted in some major health institutions have suggested the prevalence of Hepatitis B at 3.4 per cent of all the patients and Hepatitis C at around 5-6 per cent, he said.

A countrywide study on the disease in collaboration with the Pakistan Medical and Research Council has collected 49,000 blood samples, the official informed.

He said the data would help in compiling information about the prevalence of all types of hepatitis.

“If this is not controlled at this stage, half of the country population will be cirrhotic in the next 15 years,” he said. “A simple cure is to get vaccination for all four types of Hepatitis, except C, which has no vaccine,” he added.

Each province receives its quota of assistance from the programme on the basis of population: the NWFP’s share is 14 per cent.

The cost of one Hepatitis C injection is between Rs800 and Rs1, 500, and a patient requires 72 injections for six consecutive months, the source said.

The number of patients is increasing and “we cannot provide free treatment to all patients,” he added.