HYDERABAD, July 28: About 2.5 per cent of Sindh's population is suffering from hepatitis-B and five per cent from hepatitis-C.

This was stated by Dr Sadiq Memon of Isra University Hyderabad and Dr Zahoor Balcoh of Chief Minister's Hepatitis Prevention and Control Programme during a briefing given to reporters on prevention and control of hepatitis on Thursday.

They praised the government for launching a Rs2.7bn plan for three years and extending it for another three years and raising the amount to Rs3.315bn.

According to WHO estimates, around 350 million people worldwide are suffering from chronic HBV and 170 million from HCV infection, with almost one million dying each year.

The government had established PCR molecular laboratories in Mirpurkhas Civil Hospital, Chandka Medical College Hospital Larkana and Sukkur Civil Hospital, they said adding that 43 sentinel sites and five cold chain units for storage of medicines and vaccines had been set-up.

Negotiations with Roche Pharma of Switzerland were being held to cut the cost of injection to half. So far, 45,72,177 people had been vaccinated against hepatitis-B and 93,664 patients provided free medicines, they said.

Vaccination and treatment would be provided at taluka and RHC level, all school-going children would be vaccinated and more PCR labs would be set-up in all big cities in future, they said. —Bureau