After Egypt, Pakistan stands Second in the world with maximum Hepatitis infected Patients

• 400 million people in all are suffering from Hepatitis across the globe
• Pakistan is the 2nd most Hepatitis affected country after Egypt
• There are 5 types of Viral Hepatitis: A, B, C, D, E
• WHO aims at eliminating this by 90 percent till 2030

Karachi, Sept 15, 2016: Pakistan is facing a tough time dealing with the number of infected people of Hepatitis in the country. 400 million people in total are suffering from this deadly disease across the globe and many of them are not even aware of this.

A study reveals that a million and a half people died of Hepatitis in 2013. WHO aims at eliminating 90% of this disease by 2030.

Pakistan stands 2nd in the world after Egypt in the number of Hepatitis patients. According to Dr. Inayat Adil- a Hepatitis expert from Pakistan- 5 % of Pakistani population suffers from Chronic Hepatitis C infection.

Hepatitis is a liver disease. The medication for this is available only in centralised hospitals of Pakistan and is quite costly. Many middle-class patients find it difficult in approaching such branded hospitals instead of their local heath care centers. Also, the cost of medication being so high for Hepatitis, there are a number of people who cannot manage to afford the treatment. Local health care centers lack the required drugs.

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Karachi alone stands for 1 million patients. Many times, people are not even aware of being infected with the disease and neglect it. And rest of the times the cost acts as a major hindrance in their intention of getting treated, mentioned a VOA report.

The symptoms include- fatigue, body ache, decreased appetite and much more. Hepatitis generally spreads through blood transfusion, sexual acts and also virus transmission.

Treatment options vary depending upon what kind of viral hepatitis it is. For example, hepatitis B has an effective vaccine, but hepatitis C does not have a vaccine against it.

Medicines Sans Frontieres is an institution in Pakistan, that came into existence from April 2015 and has been successful in treating a lot of people in Karachi. This institute is an initiative to give people an approachable treatment of Hepatitis and is also involved in making people aware of the disease. It is in the local and mostly semi-urban areas of Karachi due to the fact that such areas lack cleanliness, hygiene, resources and basic sanitation facilities.

– by Ayushi Gaur of Newsgram