ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for National Health Services Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) Saira Afzal Tarar said on Saturday that around 12 million people in Pakistan were suffering from hepatitis B and C. The minister was addressing the World Hepatitis Summit in the Brazilian city of Sao Paolo. “There is a need to have in place a consensus National Strategic Framework to control the spread of the disease. It is with this objective that our ministry, in partnership with the provinces, launched the Pakistan National Hepatitis Strategy Framework to eliminate the disease by the year 2030,” she said. “We understand that the first step is to enhance Hepatitis B vaccination in all ages, including the birth dose. Secondly to ensure safe blood transfusion and the third is to ensure strict adherence to infection control practices in the healthcare facilities,” she said, adding that the people must be encouraged to get tested and treat those who were infected. The minister said that her ministry had undertaken some tangible steps for the effective prevention and control of hepatitis in the country. The Technical Advisory Group on hepatitis has been constituted. This body guides the federal government and provincial hepatitis programmes on way forward to achieve disease control. On the advice of Technical Advisory Group, our government introduced the new oral hepatitis drugs in the country and negotiated with the pharmaceutical companies to bring the cost down. I am very happy to share that globally we have the cheapest hepatitis drugs available in Pakistan,” she said. “During my tenure, the Technical Advisory Group also developed new Hepatitis C treatment guidelines, which have been handed over to the provinces for use. I take immense pride in the fact that under the guidance of our ministry and with the technical assistance from WHO and CDC, Pakistan Health Research Council developed the National Hepatitis Strategic Framework for the next five years,” Saira said. She maintained that it was a landmark as Pakistan was the first country in the WHO EMRO region to develop such a strategic framework. “I would like to thank CDC, WHO, and all the partners for their technical support and assistance in the prevention and control of hepatitis in Pakistan. We remain committed to the goal of disease elimination by the year 2030 and I pledge to do whatever is necessary to achieve that goal,” she said. The World Hepatitis Summit, held in Sao Paolo Brazil,has been organised by the World Health Organisation and brings together endemic countries, donors, experts and researchers to deliberate and agree on way forward to achieve the goal of Hepatitis elimination by 2030. Published in Daily Times, November 5th 2017.