World Hepatitis Day is one of the global health campaigns earmarked by World Health Organization to be observed on July 28 every year. It aims to increase the global awareness of hepatitis and encourage prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Hepatitidies (Plural; of Hepatitis) are a group of infectious diseases known as Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E. They affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide, causing short term acute (A and E) and long term chronic (B,C and D) diseases, and killing close to 1.34 million people every year. In some countries Hepatitis B & C are the commonest causes of cirrhosis and can also cause liver cancer (HCC). About 15 million people in Pakistan live with hepatitis B or C, with the overwhelming majority unaware of their disease and lack the knowledge about how the viral infection can be prevented and treated. The prevalence of hepatitis B in Pakistan is around 2.5%, while that of hepatitis C is 5%. But the prevalence is much higher than average in some districts of upper Sindh, Punjab, and Balochistan. About 300 people die in Pakistan every day due to complications caused by hepatitis, a much higher fatality rate than the current Covid-19 pandemic in Pakistan. PSSLD makes every effort to highlight this day in Pakistan by holding seminars and conferences all over Pakistan on this day and requesting dignitaries and health policy makers to attend and chair these sessions.
PSSLD is actively pursuing its goals of a Hepatitis free Pakistan, and for that purpose has repeated collaborated with international and national societies to hold conferences and seminars aimed at educating both the public at large and the doctor community specifically, and to bring in foreign experts and expertise to Pakistan to train our doctors. This year too a series of seminars were held all over Pakistan, either directly by PSSLD or in collaboration with it, to increase the awareness of hepatitis in general public.
