‘Sindh has 2.9 million cases of hepatitis B, C’

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http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=120435

‘Sindh has 2.9 million cases of hepatitis B, C’

By By our correspondent

6/25/2008

Karachi

The disclosure of the Sindh Health Minister Dr Saghir Ahmed about a record 2.9

million patients of hepatitis B and C in the province created an uproar in the

Sindh Assembly on Tuesday and members demanded that the government take action

before the disease crossed the alarming stage.

Dr Ahmed, who belongs to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), disclosed this

during the question-answer session and told the House that 1.3 million patients

in the province were suffering from hepatitis B and 1.9 million from hepatitis

C. He said the government had allocated a record Rs5 billion to tackle this

situation.

The minister also disclosed that a record number of polio cases had been found

in the province and added that a total of 14 cases were discovered from all over

the country. Ten of these were from Sindh.

Members from both the Treasury and the Opposition expressed serious concern over

the situation and demanded that the government take action on an emergency basis

to deal with this situation.

The health minister told the members that there was no diagnostic centre in any

Basic Health Unit, Taluka hospital, or dispensary, and patients were being

referred to district hospitals after diagnosis of the disease. He said during

two years, the government provided treatment to 400 patients of hepatitis B and

4,000 patients of hepatitis C.

Three new polio cases were reported from Sindh between January and March 2008,

and now a total of 11 cases were reported in the province.

A Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) member, Jam Tamachi, demanded that MQM chief

Altaf Hussain replace Dr Saghir Ahmed with Syed Sardar Ahmed and Shoaib Bukhari

in the interest of the people of Sindh as the condition of the health department

was the worst-ever.

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