Within two months of the launch of Mukh Mantri Hepatitis-C Relief Fund scheme, nearly 7500 cases of Hepatitis-C have been put on treatment, said Punjab Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Vini Mahajan on Friday.
She said that certain studies had reported a high prevalence of Hepatitis-C in some parts of the State, although the exact prevalence and epidemiological data was not available.
Keeping in view the problems of Hepatitis-C, Punjab Health and Family Welfare Department, in collaboration with experts in Hepatology of PGIMER Chandigarh, prepared the standard operating procedures for treatment of Hepatitis-C. “Punjab became the first State to provide free treatment of Hepatitis C in the country and the efforts of Punjab have been appreciated by Central Government, WHO and other international experts,” she said.
Under Mukh Mantri Punjab Hepatitis-C Relief Fund scheme, the treatment of Hepatitis C is being provided free of cost at 22 district hospitals and 3 Government Medical Colleges of the State. Medical and paramedical personnel of these hospitals have been sensitised by the experts of PGIMER in diagnosis and treatment of Hepatitis-C cases. With the launch of this scheme, patients do not have travel to PGI or other tertiary care hospitals for treatment of Hepatitis C as the treatment is now available in their respective districts, said Mahajan.
The experts of Hepatology of PGIMER Chandigarh are monitoring the implementation of the programme through ECHO clinics under which the medical specialists of 25 centres connect online with the experts and discuss the cases.
The experts of Hepatology of PGI will be visiting the districts for monitoring and evaluation of the programme in coming days, she said.
“The trends of the reports show that out of the total cases started on treatment, 14 percent cases had cirrhosis of liver and these patients had higher chances of morbidity and mortality had treatment not been provided to them. Out of the total cases, more than 1000 cases belong to Sangrur, 881 in Muktsar, 780 in Faridkot, 607 in Mansa and 527 in Moga,” she added.