ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Around 942,000 tuberculosis patients were treated under the Tuberculosis Control programme in three years from 2013 to 2015.
According to figures of Ministry of Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, 582,110 TB patients were treated in Punjab, 124,410 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 179,167 in Sindh, 23,151 in Balochistan, 4976 in Gilgit Baltistan, 16,518 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and 11,557 patients in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
While, a total of 249,563 Hepatitis C patients were treated under provincial control programmes since year 2011.
According to official sources, since the devolution of Ministry of Health in 2011 to provinces, four hepatitis control programmes are working for the prevention and control of viral hepatitis in the country.
These programmes are under the administrative control of provincial health departments and have their own PC1s.
There is no hepatitis control programme at federal level.
There are 80 treatment and sentinel sites for the treatment of hepatitis in Punjab, 54 in Sindh, 33 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and four in Balochistan.
At the moment, these programmes are giving the drug Interferon for the treatment of hepatitis C patients.
While an effective drug Branded Sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) and its generics are registered in Pakistan and the hepatitis programmes will start procuring these oral drugs very soon for the treatment of Hepatitis C.
