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ISLAMABAD: World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Pakistan, Dr Palitha Mahipala has said that the organization was striving to eliminate the hepatitis from Pakistan.
In a message, Dr. Palitha said that Pakistan is facing a considerably high disease burden due to viral Hepatitis B & C.
He said that Pakistan has the highest prevalence of Hepatitis C (7%) globally and has the highest number of people suffering from HCV.
“Viral hepatitis affects 360 million people worldwide and claims 3,000 lives every day.” He said that in 2015, the World Health Assembly adopted a strategy to eliminate hepatitis by 2030 through prevention, testing, and treatment.
Around 15 million people are estimated infected with Viral Hepatitis C in the country. Another 5 million are estimated infected with Viral Hepatitis B in the country, he added.
Dr Palitha said, “Unfortunately, our response to viral hepatitis has stagnated in recent years.” He added testing for viral hepatitis has not been scaled up as tests and treatment are considered expensive.
He said that the theme of world hepatitis day this year was ‘Hepatitis Medicines are Cheaper – Treat to Save Lives’ aims to raise awareness to scale treatment for people living with viral hepatitis.
He said that now the manufacturers have announced to lower the price of WHO prequalified hepatitis B and C drugs in low-and middle-income countries. This has been a concerted effort by partners to ensure affordability and accessibility to hepatitis treatment, he added.
He said that these new drug prices will significantly reduce the cost of treatment to low and middle-income countries, and scale up hepatitis programs to meet growing demand, all towards eliminating hepatitis.
He said that the WHO and all stakeholders will ensure the affordability and accessibility of medicines, testing, and treatment to millions in low and middle-income countries. “This is indeed a major step towards the elimination of hepatitis by 2030,” he added.
