RAWALPINDI: After failing to obtain hepatitis B and hepatitis C screening kits from the caretaker government in Punjab, the Local Hepatitis Elimination and Prevention (LHEAP) program has obtained screening results from four union committees from philanthropists.
The LHEAP program stopped hepatitis screening on Oct. 14 after receiving no response from the provincial government for the kits. It then contacted philanthropists who donated kits for hepatitis screening to four union councils.
The program was launched in July by the Rawalpindi District Health Authority in partnership with the Global Alliance to Eliminate Hepatitis.
Four union councils in Rawalpindi — Khayaban-i-Sir Syed-I, Khayaban-i-Sir Syed-2, Satellite Town and Saidpur Road — were targeted with the support of the US-based group’s global health task force. Under the scheme, people are tested for hepatitis at their doorsteps, vaccinated and patients are provided free treatment.
It is estimated that the program has to cover over 150,000 people in Rawalpindi’s fourth union council, which have been declared high-risk areas due to the high prevalence of hepatitis among residents. The authorities also plan to extend the jurisdiction of the scheme to the entire Rawalpindi region.
Dr. Anser Ishaq, head of the local hepatitis elimination and prevention program, said in an interview that hepatitis screening resumed two days ago.
He acknowledged that two philanthropists had provided the kits, but said the provincial caretaker government would also make them available within a week.
Dr Ishaq said the provincial primary and secondary health care departments have informed that the kits will be obtained upon completion of the bidding process in a few days, which will subsequently be supplied to tehsil headquarters hospitals across the province, including the hepatitis-free project in the garrison City.
He said screening of new patients has been stopped, but vaccination and treatment of patients are continuing, and patients identified from July 10 to now will receive the medicine free of charge.
“From July 10 to November 4, as many as 17,587 people were vaccinated. A total of 32,913 people have been tested so far, of which 669 had hepatitis C and 150 had hepatitis C. As many as 12 People had both hepatitis B and C, and seven pregnant women were infected with the virus,” he said.
Dr Anser Ishaq said that under the scheme, treatment of patients will begin after liver function laboratory tests are carried out, adding that medicines will be provided free of charge until the patient recovers.
Published in “Dawn” on November 6, 2023