SANGHAR, April 28: The number of deaths by hepatitis-C in Mohammad Ismail Janwari village in the past 14 months rose to 11 on Sunday after a 17-year-old youth, Imdad Ali Janwari, succumbed to the deadly disease.

He was married only three months ago.The casualties, including the three daughters of Mohammad Ali Janwari, belong to the same extended family living in the village, which is located some 40 kilometres away from here.

Poverty and unavailability of adequate medical facilities were blamed by more than half a dozen people of the village, who have been diagnosed to be suffering from hepatitis-B, including the wife and a brother of the deceased.

They cited sheer poverty on the part of the deceased and negligence on the part of the government-run medical facilities for preventing the diagnosis of the disease.

Local residents, including Shah Mohammad, Aachar, Pehalwan and Mohammad Urs complained about the unavailability of hepatitis vaccines at the government-run hospitals, saying they could not afford to buy the vaccines as they were too expensive, costing between Rs400 and Rs500 per vial at private medical stores.

Expressing their resentment at the unavailability of a qualified doctor in their area, they said that they were at the mercy of quacks, who at most were qualified to work as dispensers.

Blaming quacks for the spread of the disease, the villagers said that the unqualified persons used a single disposable syringe on several patients.

When contacted by this correspondent, the deputy Nazim of Sanghar, Dr Mehmood Ahmed Rajput, said that Sanghar had the highest incidence of hepatitis-B in the province.

Villagers, meanwhile, called upon the authorities to take appropriate measures to stop the spread of the disease.

KHAIRPUR: At least 15 persons have died of hepatitis-B in Phori Chandio village in Kingri taluka during the past eight months, local residents said on Monday.

They were talking to journalists after staging a demonstration in Pir-Jo-Goth against officials of the health department.

A villager, Mohammad Ishaque Chandio, said that hepatitis-B was spreading in the village and on Sunday and Saturday, two youths, Fazal Mohammad and Shahzado, had died of the disease, respectively.

Villagers lamented that despite the 15 deaths, no official of the health department had visited the village.