KARACHI: Pakistan has become home to the highest number of people being affected by the Hepatitis C virus, surpassing China and India and Nigeria.
This was revealed by leading epidemiologist Dr Homie Razavi from the Centre for Disease Analysis (CDA) in the United States at the 16th annual conference of the Pakistan Society for the Study of Liver Diseases (PSSLD) in Karachi.
According to details narrated by Dr Razavi, 10 million people are infected with the Hepatitis C virus in Pakistan, making it the highest number in the world. Renowned doctors, Prof Amna Subhan, Prof. Saeed Hamid from Aga Khan University Hospital, Dr Wasim Jafri from South City Hospital, and Prof Zaigham Abbas from Ziauddin University Hospital were also present on the occasion.
He said “Pakistan is now home to the world’s largest population of patients living with Hepatitis C, surpassing even China, India and Nigeria. We have been working for the last two years with various provincial health departments in Pakistan and following detailed research and analysis, we found that around half a million new Hepatitis C infections are emerging in Pakistan from 2015 to 2021. The total number of Hepatitis C patients is estimated to be 10 million in Pakistan, the highest in the world.”
He said in 2020, over 461,000 new cases of Hepatitis C were added to the pool, a higher incidence of new cases than in any other country.
US and Pakistani experts said over 15 million people suffer from Hepatitis B and C in Pakistan, making hepatitis the biggest killer among communicable diseases. They added that both viral infections are blood-borne diseases spread through unsafe injections, and unsanitary practices at hospitals, dental clinics and tattoo parlours, among other causes.
Speakers at the conference highlighted the damage caused by the unchecked spread of Hepatitis C, as a result of which liver cancer is now fastest-growing cancer in the country.
