With Sufficient State Funding & Coordination, Hepatitis C Can Be Eliminated: Expert 

Islamabad: “Pakistan can be free of hepatitis C with collaborative efforts and sufficient government financing. However, the country has been struggling since we don’t have the funds or resources to entirely eradicate the disease,” said National Focal Person on viral hepatitis Dr HumaQureshi.

She was addressing a dialogue titled “Dialogue for Hepatitis Elimination”, which was organized by Roche Diagnostics Pakistan in the Marriott Hotel.

Pakistan is the source of hepatitis in 9.8 million people.It has the second-highest prevalence of hepatitis C in the world. Every year, the sickness claims the lives of up to 25,000 people. Only 22 per cent of people have been diagnosed with Hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Speaking on the occasion, Roche Diagnostics Pakistan & Afghanistan Country Manager Abdul Qayyumstated, “Roche Diagnostics Pakistan is actively collaborating with important public and private stakeholders to enhance the delivery of diagnostics and meet the aims for the eradication of infectious diseases worldwide.”

“We are dedicated to ensuring that Pakistan is free of hepatitis by providing people with sustainable access to top-notch diagnostics wherever they may reside in Pakistan,” he vowed. Hepatitis is estimated to have claimed three to four times more lives than Covid-19 at the height of the Covid epidemic in Pakistan.

Every year, some 24,000 people in Pakistan pass away from hepatitis C complications such as chronic liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, which is the most frequent form of liver cancer.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 90 per cent of HCV patients can be fully cured in 3 to 6 months. Many HCV carriers do not exhibit any symptoms until the liver damage has progressed to a critical level without sufficient access to diagnostics and treatment due to the asymptomatic nature of the infection. APP