President emphasises mass awareness, screening for a hepatitis-free Pakistan

Abdullah Jan

Islamabad: President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday called for carrying out awareness and large-scale screening for timely diagnosis of hepatitis to reduce the burden on the healthcare system and rid the country of the disease.

The president, in a message to the nation on World Hepatitis Day, annually observed on July 28, said hepatitis, being a silent killer, was a great challenge for the world because the lack of symptoms increased the risk of its spread, thus leading to a huge number of deaths globally.

He noted that Pakistan’s public health sector faced serious threats from the disease as a huge number of patients put a serious burden on the healthcare system.

President Zardari warned that any failure to take timely steps could multiply the hepatitis cases in the country, therefore decisive measures to protect the citizens’ health were inevitable.

He called for public awareness on promoting precautionary measures to ensure prevention, large-scale screening and testing, besides highlighting the significance of treatment and increasing the number of facilities.

The president also stressed the need for collective efforts for prevention and eradication of hepatitis and urged the media, educational institutions, teachers and civil society to educate people on hepatitis to achieve a hepatitis-free Pakistan.