KARACHI:Hepatitis Prevention and Control Program Sindh has recorded 22,318 new Hepatitis C cases throughout Sindh province and a total of 251,685 patients have been registered in the province under the program from 2009 to December 31, 2018. According to the yearly data released by Hepatitis Prevention and Control Program Sindh, a total of 30,344 hepatitis B, C and D cases were detected throughout the province in 2018, of them 22,318 were hepatitis C, 7,144 hepatitis B and 882 hepatitis D. The treatment of 19,657 hepatitis B, C and D patients were underway at treatment centres across the province.
From 2009 to December 31, 2018, HPCP Sindh had recorded 300486 hepatitis B, C and D cases; out of them 244,465 were successfully completed treatment.
There are 61 Treatment Centres established at teaching, districts and tehsil hospital level, 17 screening and vaccination centres are working, four molecular labs have been established at Karachi, Mirpurkhas, Larkana and Sukkur, four cold chain storage facilities and three warehouses for storage of logistics and medicines are available.
The special camps were also organized across the Sindh province in 2018 out of which 127 community based vaccination camps were held in villages and slums, schools and offices, while 32,075 patients were screened in the camps, 45,742 vaccinated in the camps. A total of 1,856 hepatitis C and 1404 hepatitis B positive cases were reported in camps.
As per estimates, there are three million hepatitis carriers in Sindh province out of them, 2. 5 percent are suffering from hepatitis B and 4. 9 percent from hepatitis C.
The Hepatitis Prevention and Control Program, Sindh (Chief Minister Initiative) was launched in January 2009 to take preventive and curative measures. Since program started, HPCP Sindh has vaccinated 8. 87 million Hepatitis B patients till December 31, 2018.