Health ministry employees must get tested for hepatitis C or will not receive salaries from next month: Kamal

Prime Minister Kamal announced on Tuesday that all employees of his health ministry must undergo hepatitis C screening or face the withholding of their salaries starting next month. Kamal, speaking at the inauguration of the Prime Minister’s Hepatitis C Elimination Programme, also announced that the same mandatory testing policy would be extended to other ministries.

Upon getting tested himself, Kamal revealed his result to be negative. The programme, a joint initiative by the World Health Organisation and the health ministry, aims to eradicate hepatitis C by 2030. Initially, screening centres will be set up in Islamabad, with testing also made accessible at private hospitals through government-provided gadgets and kits.

Kamal emphasized the gravity of the hepatitis C situation in Pakistan, stating it as a "grave concern" and highlighting the potential for control through effective treatment and increased awareness. The federal government is in discussions to involve all provinces in the elimination programme, with plans to initiate it in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as well.

According to the World Health Organisation, around 12.9 million people in Pakistan are affected by hepatitis, including nine million with hepatitis C and three million with hepatitis B. Annually, more than 48,000 lives in Pakistan are lost due to hepatitis infections, which are both preventable and curable, equating to one death every 11 minutes, as per the WHO.