WORLD HEPATITIS DAY OBSERVED AT MUHAMMAD MEDICAL COLLEGE HOSPITAL, MIRPURKHAS

Muhammad Medical College & Hospital observed World Hepatitis Day on 19th May 2010. This was done in Collaboration with Rotary Club, Dr. S. Ali Muhammad Town, Mirpurkhas.

The day was celebrated in two sessions. In the first session, a Clinical Seminar on Hepatitis was held at College Auditorium. In this session, apart from doctors from college and hospital, students of final year, nurses, paramedical staff and General Practitioners from Mirpurkhas took active part. Dr. Shamsul-Arfeen Khan began the program with recitation from Holy Quran. Professor Syed Zafar Abbas gave introductory remarks and informed the audience of the history and importance of world Hepatitis Day. He told the audience that this day has been observed since 2004 under the umbrella of World Hepatitis Alliance, which in turn is comprised of over 200 different organizations, most of which are patients or general public bodies. The theme has been “Are you number 12?” based on the fact that every 12th Person in the world is a sufferer of hepatitis. Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan gave a detailed talk on Hepatitis B and particularly emphasized upon the importance of its vaccination. Professor Aqeel Rajput provided useful information on Hepatitis C. He particularly concentrated on the mode of transmission of the infection, its prevention and described the characteristics of those patients who should be offered the treatment. Professor Noor Muhammad Memon talked about the misconceptions about hepatitis prevailing among doctors and gave his expert tips on them. Following the session, high tea was provided to the participants.

In the second session, a Public Awareness Program was held at Dr. S. Ali Muhammad Auditorium at the hospital, which was attended by a large number of patients and their relatives. In his introductory speech, Prof. Syed Zafar Abbas talked about the general misconceptions that prevail among general public on hepatitis. This was followed by a long question and answer session, which was well participated by participants and was directed to the panel of experts, comprising Prof. Zafar Abbas and Prof. Noor Muhammad Memon. Later, the President of Rotary Club, Dr. S. Ali Muhammad Town, Mirpurkhas, Dr. Ghulam Rasool Bhurgari threw light on the importance of holding such public awareness programs. It is of note that the same club has previously held such programs on Dengue Fever and Gastroenteritis, and has held its reputation of holding such programs of great public importance. Professor Razi Muhammad, the Managing Trustee of MFT, in his Presedential Speech, said that war against Hepatitis can not be won by institutions like hepatology department of MMCH and expert doctors alone. He emphasized upon the importance of general public joining hands with such people and institutions to fight this disease. He also said that as a nation, we will have to change our attitudes in some ways if we were to be successful in this war, and gave several examples from history on this. Dr. Shamsul-Arfeen Khan thanked the public members who attended this session from the platform of Rotary Club, Dr. S. Ali Muhammad Town. Juice boxes were then served to the participants. Over 100 household relatives of hepatitis sufferers were screened for hepatitis B and C free of cost on World Hepatitis Day at MMCH. Department of Community Health Sciences reported that in their campaign, all students of MMC have been offered, and vast majority vaccinated for hepatitis B so for – free of cost. Additionally, MMCH has continued to provide hepatitis B vaccination free of cost to its employee and sufferers of hepatitis C.