Hepatitis C treatment eludes patients as hospitals struggle for medicines

TANDO MOHAMMAD KHAN: The medicines used to treat hepatitis C are not available at Hepatitis Centers run by Hepatitis Prevention & Control Program across the province for several months, as the health department has failed to deliver drugs at these centers.

Due to this shortage the score of new and old registered Hepatitis C patiets have been put on hold across the province of Sindh specially in lower parts of Sindh, where the Hepatitis C patients registered at the Hepatitis Centers of Civil Hospital and other government hospitals have not received their medicines in over a month, which is causing great hardship for them.

Hepatitis C patients from Thatta, Tando Mohammad Khan, Sujawal, Badin, Umerkot, Sanghaar, Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur and other districts of the province have been visiting the Hepatitis Centers for their medicines but are being asked by the doctors to purchase drugs from medical stores, as these centers do not have the mentioned drug in stock.

The shortage of drugs used in treatment of hepatitis C at Hepatitis Centers has badly affected program performance since the treatment of hepatitis patients is very costly and majority of the patients are unable to afford the treatment of this viral disease. The shortage of medicines has puts lives of score patients suffering from hepatitis C at risk.

Health officials also confirmed the shortage of medicines, and said that hepatitis B drugs are available at the centers and only hepatitis C medicines are not available for short period.