KARACHI, March 3: Multiple injection practice is feared to be a major cause for the spread of hepatitis-B in the rural population of the country.

A survey recently conducted by the Health and Nutrition Development Society (HANDS), following five different cases of deaths in village Saeed Ahmed Leghari, Taluka Hala, Hyderabad district, in a very short span of time, showed 47 percent of the total population inflicted with the disease.

Screening of the high-risk villagers indicated that 56 percent of all examined women were hepatitis-B positive against 41 percent male and 48 percent children found positive for the virus.

Further investigations by a team of doctors associated with HANDS showed multiple injection practice as the main source of infection and spread of the very virus.

HANDS has urged the provincial health department and district governments to initiate a mass hepatitis vaccination programme, particularly in village Taluka Saeed Ahmed Leghari and the adjoining areas.—APP