Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has said that hepatitis testing has been made mandatory for employees of the Ministry of Health and those refusing testing will get no salaries.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday, Mustafa Kamal said ther government institutions will also be contacted to arrange hepatitis testing for their employees adding that employees of the Health Ministry who do not undergo the test will have their salaries stopped.
He said more than 10 million people in Pakistan are suffering from hepatitis C, while under the Prime Minister’s Hepatitis Programme, patients will receive medicines worth Rs68,000 free of cost.
According to the federal health minister, hepatitis C screening will also be made mandatory for people travelling abroad, while those returning to Pakistan after being deported will also be required to undergo screening.
He said every citizen would be required to get screened. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has provided gadgets for the screening process, while screening records have been linked with NADRA. He added that a hepatitis C test will also be made mandatory for obtaining a national identity card (CNIC).
Mustafa Kamal said that 17 centres have been established in Islamabad for free hepatitis C screening. Private hospitals will also be provided with screening kits, while screening will be carried out across the country.
He further said that letters are being sent to all federal ministries to arrange hepatitis C screening for government employees.
He described hepatitis as a dangerous disease that is often detected at a late stage and can eventually develop into liver cancer.
It may be recalled that a few months ago, the World Health Organization reported that Pakistan was among the 10 countries accounting for 58% of deaths caused by the disease. Pakistan also has the highest number of hepatitis C patients in the world. A report released three weeks ago on World Hepatitis Day stated that Pakistan had become the most affected country in the region, with 12.9 million patients.
Islamabad ranks among world’s best-value cities: see where others stand