SUKKUR: A public awareness walk was staged at the Ghulam Muhammad Mahar Medical College (GMMMC) Sukkur on Thursday to observe World Hepatitis Day (WHD) under the aegis of the departments of Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Addressing the participants, Dean Faculty Dr Saleh Muhammad Channa said there were about 15 million people suffering from hepatitis B and C in Pakistan and the prevalence of hepatitis C in the country was around 5 per cent and that of hepatitis B was nearly 2.
He said the WHD’s theme could be easily adapted for local use to achieve elimination, greater awareness, increased diagnosis and key interventions, vaccination and injection safety. Every activity that addressed the viral hepatitis was a step towards eliminating it, he added.
Dr Channa observed that viral hepatitis was one of the leading causes of death globally, accounting for 1. 34 million deaths per year. Together, he said hepatitis B and hepatitis C caused 80 per cent of the liver cancer cases in the world.
Hepatitis was not found in one location alone nor among one set of people; it was a truly global epidemic that could affect millions of people, he said.
Health experts said that currently 90pc of the people living with hepatitis B and 80pc with hepatitis C were not aware of their status. He said this could result in real possibility of developing fatal liver disease at some point in their lives and in some cases, unknowingly transmitting infection to others.