Pakistan’s Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners committed today to intensify the fight against hepatitis C, aiming to avert 850,000 deaths and 1.1 million new infections by 2050 under the umbrella of the Prime Minister’s National Programme for the Elimination of Hepatitis C.
This was one of the objectives discussed during an event chaired by Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal. “This is not just an occasion. This is a commitment. It is a mission. When it comes to the health care system of Pakistan, we have to do everything that we should have done yesterday, but it is never too late. We have to start as soon as possible. For this mission, for this cause, I, along with my entire team, will work day and night, Inshallah, and we will leave no stone unturned to achieve our target. Millions of people are already affected, and many more are getting affected every single day. We must act now to save our people.”
“The fight against hepatitis is not a job, but a passion, a commitment and a mission. We have to screen our population. The success story is there. The Honorable Prime Minister himself has spoken to the President of Egypt. I call upon all stakeholders to join hands in this mission to protect the health and future of the nation,” said the Federal Minister.
As part of World Hepatitis Day (28 July) commemorations, WHO and the Ministry of Health convened national and international experts for a discussion, highlighting that, in addition to saving lives, every dollar invested in hepatitis prevention yields an economic return of USD 11.
According to data presented during the event, the implementation of the Prime Minister Programme could save 150,000 lives and avoid 210,000 infections by 2030, preventing 90,000 liver cancer cases and 71,000 cirrhosis cases. This prevention will also save over the next five years 1.3 billion Pakistani rupees (PKR) (USD 4.6 million) in treatment and over PKR 2 billion (USD 7 million) in hospitalization costs, totaling savings of PKR 3.3 billion.
“As we speak, every 30 seconds someone dies from hepatitis-related severe liver disease or liver cancer. This means that at least 8 people will have died due to hepatitis before I finish this speech. I am convinced that, together, under the Government of Pakistan’s leadership, we can break hepatitis down,” said WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Dapeng Luo. “Detecting and treating hepatitis is essential, but prevention is the key to end the disease. We will continue to partner with Pakistan to implement science-based approaches and adapt to the Pakistani context best practices and lessons learned from around the world”.
With 10 million of the 50 million estimated cases worldwide, Pakistan has the heaviest burden of hepatitis C globally. It is estimated that, every year, 110,000 people are infected in the country – 62% due to unsafe medical injections (including blood transfusions) and 38% due to injection drug use.
Under the theme “Let’s break it down”, WHO is urging policymakers and health authorities worldwide to simplify, scale up and integrate hepatitis services into national health systems – including vaccination, safe injection practices, harm reduction, and especially testing and treatment. The goal: ending hepatitis as a public health problem by 2030.
WHO reiterates its full support for Pakistan’s efforts to fight the disease, including the Prime Minister’s National Programme for the Elimination of Hepatitis C Infection. The Programme aims to test 50% of the eligible population (82.5 million people aged 12 years and above) and treat 5 million people by 2027.
