ISLAMABAD: China has donated more than 100,000 doses of hepatitis A vaccines for children and adults to Pakistan.

The doses, manufactured by China-based biopharmaceutical company Sinovac, were handed over during an event held at the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) on Wednesday.

Federal Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel received the vaccines from Sinovac CEO Gao Qiang.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Patel thanked the Chin­ese government and people and called the donation another “milestone” in the Pakistan-China friendship.

Mr Patel added that currently Pakistan was suffering the aftermath of the worst floods in history that have displaced millions of people. “Large communities in Sindh and Balochistan are living in flood relief camps which are highly vulnerable to disease transmission.”

He said there was a “high risk” of hepatitis A outbreak in relief camps and providing assistance to flood-affected people was the government’s top priority.

Gao Qiang said the Chinese government considered the flood victims in Pakistan “their own people” and the donation was “a gesture of care and affection”.

Calling the event “a new beginning,” the Sinovac CEO said in the long term the two nations will focus on strategic health partnership and production of life-saving vaccines in Pakistan.

According to the WHO, hepatitis A is a ‘vaccine-preventable’ liver infection caused by hepatitis A virus which is found in stool and blood of people who are infected. The highly contagious virus spreads through close personal contact with an infected person or through eating contaminated food or drink.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2022