ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed authorities to ensure comprehensive screening of all patients in public hospitals to eliminate hepatitis and HIV, reiterating the government’s resolve to provide the best healthcare services to citizens.
The directive was issued as the Prime Minister chaired a review meeting on issues related to the Ministry of National Health Services, where he reiterated that the provision of the best possible healthcare to Pakistani citizens remained among the government’s top priorities.
According to the statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Prime Minister said the government was prepared to go to great lengths, overcome all obstacles and make any sacrifice necessary to save even a single precious life.
He also directed the Ministry of National Health Services to develop an integrated system for timely reporting of hepatitis, AIDS and other diseases in coordination with provincial governments. “Only through timely identification can these diseases be completely eradicated,” he noted.
The Prime Minister further directed the Ministry of Health to speed up the implementation of the “Prime Minister’s Hepatitis Control Program” in collaboration with the provinces, focusing on screening, testing and treatment.
To curb the spread of viral diseases, he ordered the nationwide use of auto-disable (AD) syringes. He directed the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan and other relevant bodies to ensure a complete ban on reuse of syringes.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister was briefed about ongoing measures to eliminate polio, hepatitis and AIDS. Officials informed him that 98 antiretroviral therapy centers had been established in major hospitals across the country to treat AIDS, with plans to increase the number to 164 within a year.
The meeting was also told that AIDS screening facilities had been introduced at all international airports for illegal immigrants returning to the country.
Officials further briefed that a pilot phase of the Prime Minister’s National Hepatitis C Elimination Program would soon be launched in Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
NA panel alerted
A parliamentary panel on Tuesday sounded the alarm over the HIV/AIDS situation, rejecting calls for an in-camera briefing and demanding transparency as officials revealed more than 84,000 cases have been registered nationwide, with thousands of patients lost to follow-up.
The National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services, headed by Mahesh Kumar Malani, said the issue was urgent, sensitive and required coordinated national action.
Officials from the Ministry of Health informed the committee that registered HIV cases had reached 84,000, of which about 61,000 patients were currently on treatment, while more than 16,000 patients had dropped out of treatment and could no longer be traced.
The ministry attributed the increase in reported cases mainly to expanded screening.
It said that in 2020, around 38,000 people were screened at 49 centers across the country, while by 2025 the number of testing centers had increased to 97, with over 374,000 tests carried out and more than 14,000 positive cases detected.
