ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed authorities to ensure comprehensive screening of all patients in public hospitals to eliminate hepatitis and HIV, reiterating the government’s determination to provide the best healthcare services to citizens.
The directive was issued as the prime minister chaired a review meeting on matters related to the Ministry of National Health Services, during which he reiterated that providing the best possible healthcare to Pakistani citizens remained one of the government’s top priorities.
According to the statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Prime Minister said that the government was prepared to do everything possible, overcome all obstacles and make any sacrifice necessary to save even a single precious life.
He also directed the Ministry of National Health Services to develop, in coordination with provincial governments, an integrated system for timely reporting of hepatitis, AIDS and other diseases. “Only through timely identification can these diseases be completely eradicated,” he observed.
The Prime Minister further directed the Ministry of Health to accelerate the implementation of the “Prime Minister’s Hepatitis Control Programme” in collaboration with provinces, focusing on detection, testing and treatment.
To curb the spread of viral diseases, he ordered the nationwide use of self-deactivating (AD) syringes. It directed the Pakistan Drug Regulatory Authority and other relevant bodies to ensure a complete ban on reuse of syringes.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister was briefed on the ongoing measures to eliminate polio, hepatitis and AIDS. Officials informed him that 98 antiretroviral therapy centers had been established in major hospitals across the country for the treatment of AIDS, with plans to increase the number to 164 within a year.
Attendees were also informed that AIDS screening facilities had been introduced at all international airports for illegal immigrants returning to the country.
The officials further informed that a pilot phase of the Prime Minister’s National Program for Hepatitis C Elimination would soon be launched in Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
NA panel alarmed
On Tuesday, a parliamentary panel raised the alarm over the HIV/AIDS situation, rejecting calls for a closed-door briefing and demanding transparency as officials revealed that more than 84,000 cases have been recorded across the country, with thousands of patients lost to follow-up.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services, chaired by Mahesh Kumar Malani, said the issue was urgent, sensitive and required coordinated national action.
Health Ministry officials informed the committee that recorded HIV cases had reached 84,000, of which around 61,000 patients were currently under treatment, while more than 16,000 patients had dropped out during treatment and could no longer be traced.
The ministry attributed the increase in reported cases largely to expanded controls.
He said that in 2020, around 38,000 people were tested at 49 centers across the country, while by 2025, the number of testing centers had increased to 97, with over 374,000 tests conducted and over 14,000 positive cases detected.
