MUZAFFARABAD (Kashmir English): Under the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s national program, free hepatitis screening and treatment facilities have also been launched in Azad Kashmir.
Under this program, screening, timely diagnosis of the disease, and free treatment including provision of medicines for affected patients are being ensured.
Under the program, if the initial test for Hepatitis C is positive, a PCR test will be conducted for further diagnosis, while confirmed patients will be provided with free medicines.
Prevention of Hepatitis spread
The aim of this initiative is the timely diagnosis of the disease and the prevention of its spread.
The coordinator for the Prime Minister of Pakistan’s national program in Azad Kashmir said that initially, screening is being conducted in selective districts of Azad Kashmir: Muzaffarabad, Jhelum Valley, Bagh, Kotli, and Mirpur.
He stated that initially, screening is being conducted in cities and will later be extended to the BHU level. After the initial screening, PCR tests will be conducted at the Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS).
He said that the screening is being conducted on the Egyptian model.
There are more than 10,000,000 hepatitis patients in the country, and it is essential to control the disease in time, he added.
The PCR test will be free and patients will receive 6 months of free treatment.
The coordinator appealed that people over 12 years of age must get screened so they can be treated.
Regarding ambiguity about the PCR test machine, the coordinator said that there should be no ambiguity regarding the PCR test, as best facilities are available here and the machine’s tests are standardized.
