Islamabad:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on coordinated efforts of federal and provincial governments on Tuesday and all stakeholders to eradicate hepatitis C from Pakistan, promising to promote and extend the Hepatitis C of the PM throughout the country.
Speaking during a recognition ceremony in Islamabad, marking the success of the pilot project of the national hepatitis C elimination program of the PM in the Gilgit-Baltistan, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of the initiative to treat the widespread impact of the disease in the country.
Recognizing the significant support of Aga Khan Development Network and the World Health Organization (WHO) in this initiative, he said that the hepatitis unit had been initially established in Pakistan Reiny and Liver Institute (PKLI) and was then extended to provide 100% free treatment facilities.
The Prime Minister expressed regret that when the new government took office in 2018, the program was interrupted.
However, he said that shortly after having assumed the post of Prime Minister, he resumed the program, which was now operational in Punjab under the direction of chief Minister Maryam Nawaz.
“We see a brilliant future of Gilgit-Baltistan and subsequently other parts of Pakistan,” he said by expressing confidence that with the efforts of the outgoing government, hepatitis C will be completely erased from the country.
“This aggressive disease is spreading. It is high time to effectively control this disease,” he noted.
The Prime Minister told the rally that the federal government was establishing a Jinnah medical center in Islamabad, which would prove the John Hopkins hospital in Pakistan in public health care.
Earlier, he distributed shields among the contributors to the Gilgit-Baltistan pilot project, including the Minister of Health Services, Syed Mustafa Kamal, the Minister of State, Dr. Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath, the Minister of Planning Ahsan Iqbal, the president of Nadra, who representing in Pakistan and others.
Speaking on occasion, Ahsan Iqbal stressed that Pakistan had the greatest spread of hepatitis C, calling it a great concern.
He said the success of the hepatitis program has expressed the public-private partnership model and also coordination between federal and provincial governments.
He said the government hoped to eliminate the disease 2029 because the Prime Minister’s hepatitis C elimination program will not only save millions of lives, but will also help stimulate the country’s economic productivity.
The Minister of National Health Syed Mustafa Kamal, welcoming the Prime Minister’s vision to eliminate hepatitis C from the country, assured him of his full support to successfully eliminate the country’s disease by 2030.
The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan, Dr. Lou Dapeng, said that the organization will continue to stay side by Pakistan to support its program to completely eliminate the disease.
