Gilgit-Baltistan to screen 600,000 people for hepatitis C
The three-month drive, agreed at a meeting in Islamabad, will use 600,000 screening kits and 25,000 PCR kits supplied by the federal health ministry.
Gilgit-Baltistan will screen at least 600,000 people for hepatitis C over the next three months, Chief Minister Amjad Hussain announced at a meeting in Islamabad with Federal Minister for National Health Services Mustafa Kamal, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported on Wednesday.
The federal ministry has trained health staff in Gilgit-Baltistan for the drive and has supplied 600,000 screening kits and 25,000 PCR testing kits, Dr Saeed Akhtar said in a presentation to the meeting on how hepatitis C is diagnosed, screened and prevented.
Dr Akhtar said Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Islamabad had been picked as model populations for hepatitis C screening. The programme would be extended to other parts of the country on the strength of the experience gained in those three areas, he said.
The meeting discussed public healthcare challenges in Gilgit-Baltistan and measures to prevent hepatitis C.
The chief minister thanked the federal minister for the kits and the training. He said his government would run an extensive public screening drive over three months and would reach at least 600,000 people, including about 60,000 government employees and students of schools and colleges.
He said screening was an important measure for protecting public health and preventing disease, and that his administration would make sure the campaign is carried out as part of its efforts to strengthen preventive health services.
The Federal Health Secretary, Chief Secretary Gilgit-Baltistan, the Provincial Minister for Works and the Secretary to the Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan also attended.
The report did not say when screening would begin or which districts would be covered first.
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