Caretaker Provincial Minister for Health Punjab Dr Jamal Nasir has said that a model vaccination centre was being set up with the help of the World Health Organisation to eliminate hepatitis in the Rawalpindi district. He was addressing the launching of the Local Hepatitis Elimination & Prevention (LHEAP) programme, developed in collaboration with the US-based task force for Global Health, at the Rawalpindi Arts Council on Monday.
Dr Jamal said that four Union Councils (UCs) of Rawalpindi city, which had been declared high-risk UCs for hepatitis, would be screened under the LHEAP project.
He informed that the programme had been started in Union Councils 10, 11, 14 and 15 of the city comprising about 100,000 population.
The minister said that hepatitis was spreading rapidly and around 15 million people, or one in 13, were carriers of hepatitis B or C virus in Pakistan. Under the programme, he said that free-of-charge diagnosis, vaccination and treatment would be provided to the patients. The minister that hepatitis would be completely eradicated from these four union councils and plans were underway to extend the same model to the entire district. He said that provision of modern health facilities to citizens was the priority of the government and all resources were being used in that regard. Deputy Commissioner Hassan Waqar Cheema, Project Incharge of LHEAP in Pakistan Dr Nida Jahanzeb, CEO of Health Rawalpindi Dr Ijaz, and other relevant officials were also present at the event.
