{
  "id": 1737680,
  "title": "Hepatitis C screening to be made mandatory nationwide for employees of federal ministries: Kamal",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/18/hepatitis-c-screening-to-be-made-mandatory-nationwide-for-employees",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-18T09:38:13.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Express Tribune - Pakistan",
    "slug": "the-express-tribune-pakistan",
    "url": "https://tribune.com.pk/story/2624590/hepatitis-c-screening-to-be-made-mandatory-nationwide-for-employees-of-federal-ministries-kamal"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal declared nationwide mandatory Hepatitis C screening for all Ministry of Health employees on Tuesday. The expansion of Prime Minister's Programme for Hepatitis C Prevention aims to identify 11 million currently Hepatitis C positive individuals in Pakistan. Screening points have been set up in Islamabad, with private hospitals receiving screening kits and digital devices. Kamal urged all eligible Pakistanis, especially those aged 12 and above, to undergo screening, as undiagnosed Hepatitis C can lead to liver cancer. The government will provide free medicines worth Rs68,000 to patients and has linked the screening system with NADRA records and the Computerised National Identity Card.",
  "summary": "Appeals to citizens to undergo screening, take advantage of free facilities being offered under the gov’s programme",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}