FAISALABAD: More than 300 prisoners at the central jail have been diagnosed with Hepatitis B and C while another 32 prisoners are suffering from human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS).Doctors say the contagious liver disease have increased among prisoners in recent months.

The recent screening of central jail prisoners data also shows five prisoners have developed syphilis.

Jail Superintendent Asad Javeed mentioned the numbers in a letter to the Punjab AIDS Control Programme on December 19. The superintendent asked the AIDS control programme to initiate treatment of prisoners. Presently, the central jail has 3,700 prisoners against the capacity of 1,200.

The jail superintendent said he succeeded to get medicines and treatment for the prisoners after the screening from the Faisalabad District Headquarters Hospital. He said their treatment had begun and there was good stock of medicines in the jail.

“We’ve arrangement of filtered water supply and laboratory tested food for the prisoners to keep the prisoners healthy,” the superintendent said. Dr Mohammad Irfan from the Allied Hospital said Hepatitis B and C are becoming real danger to the population in Faisalabad. More than 30 percent of the beds in government hospitals are occupied with the carriers of Hepatitis B and C.

He said a couple of years ago, they screened the residents of a village in Jaranwala for hepatitis, and it emerged that more than 90 percent of people were hepatitis carriers.

In the district, it is most often spread through quacks and barbers. He said illegal doctors keep on using the same needle and syringe on more than one patients transmitting the virus from person to person. Now, their clinics are being sealed by the authorities.

Also, barbers do not have any sterilisation sources and keep on using the same scissors and razors for both hepatitis carriers and normal people.

He said our hospitals would be occupied up with cirrhotic (shrunken) liver patients if we failed to control the spread of hepatitis.

“The government cannot afford the treatment of millions of hepatitis carriers,” he added. A liver transplant procedure costs more than Rs5 million.

Dr Irfan, also the Pakistan Medical Association secretary, said the association would help jail authorities for patient management and medicine follow-up.

He said they would also sensitize the prisoners of preventive measures.

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2019