Awareness key to controlling various types of Hepatitis

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Awareness key to controlling various types of Hepatitis

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The number of people suffering from various types of hepatitis is on the rise in the country. This is the first time that World Hepatitis Day is being sponsored globally by the World Health Organization (WHO) following the passing of the resolution on Viral Hepatitis at the 63rd World Health Assembly in May 2010 which recognised the importance of taking a multi-pronged global initiative against hepatitis which includes increasing awareness, improving prevention in terms of better injection and blood safety, providing timely diagnosis and making treatment cost-effective and affordable.

In Karachi, Various program including symposiums, workshops, free screening and vaccinations were held to mark the World Hepatitis Day in which estimates were presented by the experts.

One of the main events to mark the World Hepatitis Day was organized by the National Institute of Liver & G.I. Diseases(NILGID) of Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) on “Hepatitis and its Complications” along with free screening and vaccinations for hepatitis B & C at the Ojha Campus.

Vice Chancellor-DUHS, Prof. Masood Hameed Khan speaking on the occasion said that Hepatitis is a silent killer. Diagnosing the disease at early stage and proper treatment reduces the disease by 90%. Government should create a Task Force to deal with it and all related vaccinations and medications should be developed in Pakistan.

Considering the lack of facilities, complications and costly treatment of liver diseases, Dow University has established a NILGID, which is one of its type, where all the Indoor and outdoor treatment facilities including Intensive Care treatment and Endoscopy will also be provided, besides other facilities, at bare minimum cost. 

Dr. Rana Qamar Masood, Director-NILGID said that In Pakistan, Hepatitis is spreading very fast. It is very important to screen the blood properly for these viruses and observe proper sterilization measures during dental and surgical procedures. Pakistan’s first Fibroscan Machine of Pakistan has been installed at NILGID. This machine would obviate the need of liver biopsy in patients suffering from HBV & HCV and would save cost of liver biopsy without the risks involved in liver biopsy.

Dr. Abdul Sattar, Assistant Professor at NILGID speaking on the Treatment of Hepatitis in 2011 said the future is bright for some types of hepatitis because scientists are working to improve existing treatments and develop new ones like antiviral drugs that more efficiently prevent viral replication in liver cells. In addition, new therapies are taking advantage of the explosion of knowledge in genetic engineering. Treatments using this technology could revolutionize hepatitis therapy.

Other who spoke on the occasion includes; Prof. Abdullah Bin Khalid, Dr. Atiqa Habib, Senior Registrar –NILGID, Dr. Shahid Ahmed, Assistant Professor of Ziauddin University.

Meanwhile, people visiting the SIUT were tested for hepatitis B and C while ultrasound of liver and spleen was done in all the cases. Free vaccination for hepatitis B was also offered to the visitors with advice for the second dose after one month.

Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) also marked the World Hepatitis Day by providing free screening for hepatitis B&C at its premises.

Prof. Adibul Hasan Rizvi, Director-SIUT, informed the participants of a seminar that more than one million people died every year all over the world due to different complications of the hepatitis B&C. Similarly, millions and millions of patients were suffering from hepatitis, which had emerged as a major global health problem and needed urgent prevention and control, he said.

Meanwhile, experts at the Aga Khan University shared estimates a seminar in observance of the World Hepatitis Day.

Dr Wasim Jafri, Consultant Gastroentologist at AKUH, said both hepatitis B and C could be transmitted through the use of tainted blood or blood products, the use of contaminated syringes during medical procedures or injection drug use. A major reason for the spread of hepatitis B and C had been the careless attitude of healthcare professionals in not ensuring the use of sterilized syringes and untainted blood.

Dr. Rustam Khan, Consultant Gastroenterologist at AKUH, said that hepatitis A and E were prevalent predominantly in the developing countries and they spread through contaminated food or water, adding that in Pakistan most of the hepatitis A and E cases occurred during the summer and monsoon seasons.

Dr. Saeed Hamid of AKUH, said prevention through immunization was the preferable course of action when dealing with hepatitis. Both hepatitis A and B vaccines were easily available and were more than satisfactory in protecting against infection, but were generally underutilized.

This in a developing country like Pakistan was due to a lack of awareness and a belief in the curative powers of alternative therapies such as traditional and herbal cures.

2017-04-26T12:35:24+00:00