One person dies of hepatitis every 30 seconds worldwide: Experts
Matiullah Khan :
Medical experts have revealed that one person dies of hepatitis every 30 seconds worldwide. Dr. Dawood Ghilzai, the Joint Secretary of Pakistan Society of Hepatology said more than 330 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis.
What is even more tragic is that 290 million people are unaware that they are infected with a contagious disease like hepatitis, Dr. Ghilzai stated. He said that every member of society including the government and civil society needs to play a role in this regard.
He expressed these views while talking to media persons on the occasion of World Hepatitis Day. Dr. Dawood Ghalzai said that 4,000 people die of hepatitis every day in the world, while 330 million people worldwide are currently infected with hepatitis.
Hepatitis rampant in Balochistan: Dr. Yasir Khosti
Hepatitis is also rampant in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan. The major reason behind the spread of hepatitis is lack of awareness and the contaminated water, Dr. Yasir Khosti, a Quetta-based physician mentioned.
Of these, 290 million are still unaware that they are infected with the hepatitis B virus He said that one person is dying every 30 seconds due to hepatitis in the world. At present, 257 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis (B), 71 million with hepatitis (C), and 1.4 million with hepatitis (C). “Government, media, civil society have to join hands to battle this disease”, Dr. Khosti suggested. He said the government alone cannot battle this disease.
Contaminated water causing various diseases
Current analysis of water quality discloses that water in most of the areas of the Quetta is exclusively microbiologically contaminated. Whereas, other contaminations include, Nitrate, Turbidity, Arsenic, hardness, TDS, and other ions have been analyzed wherein, the Nitrate concentrations have been found higher than the prescribed WHO standards.
