The WHO reports that in Pakistan, 5 and 10 million people are affected with hepatitis B and C respectively. Thousands of new patients contract the disease every year due to lack of prevention, testing and treatment resources as well as inadequately screened blood transfusion, improperly sterilized invasive medical devices and unsafe injections.

To address the huge disease burden, the government has announced Prime Minister Imran Khan’s new and ambitious plan to eliminate viral hepatitis B and C infections in the country by 2030. The program aims to provide leadership and coordination to provincial programs in scaling up hepatitis prevention, testing and treatment services.

Read the full article on the WHO website.

Image “On Pakistan’s Highways” by Luke X. Martin is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.