Islamabad:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday requested the coordinated efforts of federal and provincial governments and all interested parties to eradicate Pakistan’s hepatitis C, promising to promote and expand the Hepatitis C elimination program of the Prime Minister throughout the country.
Speaking at a recognition ceremony in Islamabad, marking the successful completion of the pilot project of the National Hepatitis C elimination program of the Prime Minister in Gilgit-Baltan, the prime minister emphasized the importance of the initiative to address the generalized impact of the disease in the country.
Recognizing the important support of the AGA Khan Development Network and the World Health Organization (WHO) in this initiative, he said that the hepatitis unit was initially established at the Pakistan and Liver Institute of Pakistan (PKLI) and then expanded to provide 100% free treatment facilities.
The prime minister expressed his regret that when the new government assumed the position in 2018, the program was discontinued.
However, he said that shortly after assuming prime minister, he resumed the program, which was now operational in Punjab under the leadership of Prime Minister Maryam Nawaz.
“We see a brilliant future of Gilgit-Baltistan and, subsequently, other parts of Pakistan,” he said expressing the confidence that with the efforts of the titular government, hepatitis C will be completely erased from the country soon.
“This aggressive disease is spreading. It is time to effectively control this disease,” he said.
The prime minister told the meeting that the federal government was in the process of establishing the Jinnah Medical Center in Islamabad, which would demonstrate to the John Hopkins Hospital in Pakistan in public medical care.
Previously, he distributed shields among taxpayers to the Gilgit-Baltistan pilot project, including the Minister of Health Services Syed Mustafa Kamal, Minister of State, Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharth, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, President of Nadra, who representative in Pakistan and others.
Speaking on the occasion, Ahsan Iqbal stressed that Pakistan had the greatest propagation of hepatitis C, describing it as great concern.
He said that the success of the hepatitis program expressed the public-private association model and also coordination between federal and provincial governments.
He said that the Government was hoping to eliminate disease 2029, since the Hepatitis C elimination program of the Prime Minister will not only save millions of lives, but will also contribute to boosting the country’s economic productivity.
National Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal praised the vision of the prime minister to eliminate hepatitis C from the country, assured him of his full support to successfully eliminate the country’s disease by 2030.
Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan, Dr. Lou Dapeng, said the organization will continue with Pakistan to support its program to completely eliminate the disease.
