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7.4% Pakistanis suffering from Hepatitis B and C.

7.4% Pakistanis suffering from Hepatitis B and C.
ISLAMABAD: Almost 7.4 percent Pakistani population is suffering from Hepatitis B and C, including 4.9 percent suffering from Hepatitis C only, National Academy of Young Scientists (NAYS) President Aftab Ahmed told APP.

He said around 20,000 to 40,000 people die of Hepatitis C annually in Pakistan. “The major source of Hepatitis C infection is use of used syringes,” he added.

About 1.5 million blood or blood related product transfusions are conducted in Pakistan annually and hepatitis C infection is higher in multi-transfused population compared to normal population, he added.

Ahmed said according to research studies, the prevalence of hepatitis C was much higher in intravenous drug users (IDUs) and in a study conducted in Lahore, 93% of IDUs were positive for hepatitis C.

He said Hepatitis C was becoming a major killer disease in the world and also posed an increased burden on the economy of the developing countries, which had a large proportion of their population suffering from this disease.

Scientist further said Hepatitis B and C were major cause of liver complications, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

He said World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that there were 170 million people with chronic Hepatitis C and 350 million people with chronic hepatitis B infection worldwide that resulted in annually 366,000 and 563,000 deaths respectively.

New cases of HCV were increasing each year due to the lack of resources and unawareness about the disease, he added.

Replying to a question he said, certain professions like health care workers, sex workers and barbers were at high risk of HCV.

Prevalence of HCV infection in family members of infected patients was around two times higher than normal population, he maintained.

He was of the view that there was great need to educate common people about the disease itself, its spread, protective measures and treatment. app

Reference
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\11\29\story_29-11-2010_pg11_7