RAWALPINDI:Director of Health Dr Ansar Ishaq has said that the second phase of the Local Hepatitis Elimination and Prevention (LHEAP) drive would be commenced in four Union Councils (UCs) of Rawalpindi City from August 1.
The director told reporter that during the Ist phase of the pilot project launched in one Union Council-10 of the city on July 10, around 10,166 people had been screened for hepatitis B and C while as many as 2,679 individuals had been vaccinated against hepatitis B.
Dr Ansar said that under the LHEAP Programme free-of-cost diagnosis, vaccination and treatment were provided to the patients while health teams visited door to door to detect and vaccinate the maximum number against the deadly disease.
He said that during the 2nd phase, residents of UC-10,11,14 and 15 would be screened for HCV and HBV.
The health official informed that according to a survey, Pakistan was the second most affected country in the world and the overall infection rate of Hepatitis virus in the general population was 7.6 per cent, adding around five million people in Pakistan were disease-ridden with HBV and ten million were infected with HCV.
He said the provision of modern healthcare facilities to citizens was the top priority of the government and all resources were being used in that regard.