All organized communities and healthcare professionals should be screened for HBV and HCV – Prof. Masood Hameed Khan

PSP should establish its own YouTube Channel and upload proceedings of all such seminars to educate public A state-of-the-art laboratory was being established at the hospital with funding from USAID – Dr. Rashid Siraj Pakistan Society of Physician seminar on Hepatitis KARACHI: The Pakistan Society of Physicians (PSP), Karachi Chapter, in collaboration with Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, organized a seminar on August 8, 2026, to commemorate World Hepatitis Day. Prof. Masood Hameed Khan, former Vice Chancellor of Dow University of Health Sciences, was the chief guest. Pakistan Society of Physicians Karachi Chapter celebrated World Hepatitis Day by organizing a seminar at Sindh Govt. Qatar Hospital on August 8th 2026. Picture taken on the occasion shows Prof. Masood Hameed Khan, Prof. Qaiser Jamal, Prof. Zeeshan Ali, Prof. Nasir Luck, Dr. Syed Rias-Ul-Hassan, Prof. Karim Kameruddin, Prof. Zahid Azam and Dr. Aashir Jameel speaking on the occasion. The speakers included Prof. Zeeshan Ali of JPMC, Prof. Nasir Luck of the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT), Prof. Karim Kamaruddin of Baqai Medical University, and Prof. Zahid Azam, Director, National Institute of Liver and Gastrointestinal Diseases, DUHS Ojha Campus. Members of the expert panel included Prof. Bader Fayaz Zuberi, Prof. Jameel Ahmad of Baqai Medical University, Prof. Masroor Ahmed of Sindh Medical College, Prof. Abdul Rab Bhutto, Prof. Qaiser Jamal, Vice President PSP, Prof. Sajid Abbas Jafri, and Brig. Pervaiz Zuberi from Bahria Medical College. The programme was conducted by Dr. Aashir Jameel. Prof. Masroor Ahmad speaking at the panel discussion during the Seminar on Hepatitis held at Qatar Hospital. Also sitting with him are other members of the panel Prof. Masood Hameed Khan, Prof. Jamil Ahmed and Prof. Abdul Rab Bhutto. Addressing the seminar, Prof. Masood Hameed Khan said Pakistan was facing a huge burden of non-communicable diseases while it had also failed to control communicable diseases. 'No country can afford this dual disease burden,' he said, adding that much needed to be done to prevent these diseases and ensure a healthy younger generation. He suggested that all organizations should arrange screening of their employees for hepatitis B and C, as well as HIV/AIDS. Policymakers should come up with practical and feasible solutions, while hospital administrations should screen their employees for hepatitis B and C and metabolic disorders. Prof. Bader Fayaz Zuberi along with Prof. Qaiser Jamal, Prof. Pervaiz Asghar and Prof. Sajid Abbad Jafari participating in the panel discussion during the World Hepatitis Day seminar held at Sindh Govt. Qatar Hospital on August 8th 2026. He also proposed the formation of multidisciplinary teams, development of guidelines and treatment protocols, and training of family physicians so that patients could be diagnosed and treated at an early stage. Creating public awareness was extremely important, he said, adding that social media platforms could be effectively utilized for this purpose. He called upon the PSP to establish its own YouTube channel and upload its academic activities to create greater public awareness. 'Instead of leaving everything to the government, let us do whatever we can to control and eliminate diseases and prevent conditions including hepatitis,' he said. Organizers, speakers and panelists of the Seminar on World Hepatitis Day held at Sindh Govt. Qatar Hospital photographed with Prof. Masood Hamed Khan who was the chief Guest on this occasion. Earlier, Dr. Syed Riaz-ul-Hassan, chief organizer of the seminar, in his welcome address, pointed out that the WHO had set a target of eliminating hepatitis by 2030. He said the theme of the current year's World Hepatitis Day was accelerating hepatitis elimination through early detection, effective treatment and prevention. The PSP, he said, was trying to create awareness by organizing such academic meetings. Pakistan reportedly has the second-highest prevalence of hepatitis C in the world, with around 48,000 deaths occurring annually. There was an urgent need for action to bring down the mortality rate, he added. He emphasized that patients needed to be diagnosed at an early stage and provided appropriate treatment without delay. PSP's academic activities Prof. Qaiser Jamal, Vice President of PSP, said the society had started its academic activities in 2025 and had since organized numerous meetings and programmes, including activities related to World Blood Donor Day and the HIV epidemic. 'Elimination of hepatitis is imperative,' he said, adding that the PSP was also working on non-communicable diseases. Obesity was highly prevalent even among young adults, while mental health problems were also widespread. The society had organized webinars on metabolic diseases, refresher courses for general practitioners and programmes to commemorate World Stroke Day. All these activities were aimed at creating public awareness and providing training to healthcare professionals, he added. First Scientific Session Prof. Zeeshan Ali, the first speaker in the scientific session, spoke on 'Hepatitis: Safe Practices, Vaccination and Importance of Prevention.' He pointed out that healthcare facilities, particularly those providing services for hepatitis B and C, were inadequate. He stressed the need to ensure that infection control committees in healthcare institutions were functional. He said that even working in tertiary-care hospitals could sometimes be difficult and complicated, while quackery was flourishing in the country. In some areas, even paramedics were running hospitals and healthcare facilities. According to him, the prevalence of hepatitis B was around 2.3% and hepatitis C 5.8%. More than 40,000 deaths were estimated to occur annually due to chronic liver diseases. Dr. Aashir Jameel, Dr. Tuba and other members of the Organizing Committee of the Seminar on Hepatitis held at Qatar Hospital recently. Discussing the modes of transmission, he mentioned unsafe injections, unsafe blood transfusion practices, unhygienic practices at barber shops and unsafe dental procedures. The public should be discouraged from demanding unnecessary injections and educated about their risks, he said. He stressed the need to ensure injection safety, use personal protective equipment and properly sterilize instruments. Healthcare professionals were frequently exposed to needle-stick injuries, making proper disposal of hospital waste and the use of disposable gloves and syringes essential. He further stated thaxt all healthcare workers should be screened for viral hepatitis. The lack of incinerators and improper segregation of waste in rural healthcare facilities could contribute to the spread of infections. Mandatory training of healthcare staff in proper waste disposal was therefore essential. He also called for regular monitoring of dental clinics and barber shops. Although guidelines were available, their implementation remained inadequate. Prevention should be given priority, and the target should be to achieve at least a 50% reduction in new infections, he added. Importance of early diagnosis Prof. Nasir Luck spoke on the importance of early diagnosis of hepatitis B and C. He said the global burden of hepatitis B was estimated at around 250–300 million infections, with approximately one million deaths reported annually. He emphasized the importance of sound clinical skills, including a good history and physical examination, along with the use of cost-effective diagnostic tests. The virological work-up should include assessment of liver fibrosis. He also discussed the role of interferon in hepatitis B and presented several cases, explaining their diagnosis and management, including hepatitis during pregnancy. He stressed that fibrosis should be assessed before deciding on treatment and that the efficacy and safety of treatment should be monitored regularly. Discussing hepatitis C, he said the WHO had set targets of diagnosing 90% of cases, treating 80% of those diagnosed and achieving a 65% reduction in mortality. However, he felt that achieving these targets in Pakistan would be difficult because of weaknesses in the healthcare system. Patients with cirrhosis require lifelong surveillance, he said, and physicians should know when to refer patients to gastroenterologists. Patients with cirrhosis also require continued surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma. Panel Discussion During the panel discussion moderated by Dr. Tuba, Prof. Masood Hameed Khan said that in the past, physicians relied on ultrasound for diagnosis, while FibroScan became available much later. The response rate to hepatitis C treatment had previously been unsatisfactory, but modern medicines had significantly improved cure rates. He emphasized the need to screen everyone for hepatitis B and C and ensure vaccination of all eligible family members. All hospital staff and patients visiting hospitals should also be screened. Pharmaceutical companies could assist in such programmes, which would also generate valuable data for research, he added. Prof. Masroor Ahmed remarked that many diagnosed patients failed to receive treatment. Pakistan faced the burden of viral hepatitis types A, B, C, D and E. Perceptions about treatment, particularly in rural areas, were different, he said. He observed that around 75% of patients had already visited quacks and tried various non-pharmacological treatments before reaching specialist healthcare facilities, resulting in multiple complications. He emphasized the importance of vaccination, early testing and treatment, as well as educating the public through the media. Prof. Jameel Ahmad remarked that the WHO targets appeared difficult, if not impossible, to achieve under the existing circumstances. He also questioned aspects of the WHO guidelines regarding when treatment for hepatitis B and C should be initiated. Doctors, including consultants, required further training, he said, adding that even quacks should be trained. He observed that infection control committees in some institutions existed merely to satisfy requirements for regulatory inspections. Prof. Abdul Rab Bhutto spoke about the management of patients with decompensated liver disease and pointed out that the country had failed to contain hepatitis. He said resistance to vaccination and treatment had also been witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but awareness and education had helped overcome such resistance. The government had agreed to introduce single-use injection syringes, he added, regretting that health and education remained low on the government's list of priorities. Second Scientific Session Prof. Karim Kamaruddin, the first speaker in the second session, discussed the role of the community in eliminating hepatitis. Pakistan, he observed, had become a 'nursery' for polio and hepatitis. Referring to Egypt's successful efforts to eliminate hepatitis C, he discussed mother-to-child transmission and emphasized the need for appropriate management of children at risk. He also gave an overview of the natural history of viral hepatitis and discussed the criteria for achieving hepatitis elimination. He stressed the importance of proper disposal of healthcare waste and called for incinerators to be provided at every hospital. He further pointed out that vaccination coverage among children born at home was particularly low, with newborn vaccination coverage reportedly standing at only 38%. Long-term antiviral treatment could reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma by 50% and all-cause mortality by 40%, he said. According to estimates, around 9.8 million people in Pakistan were infected with hepatitis C. Vaccination coverage for hepatitis B remained far below the desired targets, while no vaccine was available for hepatitis C. The government should create greater awareness, while communities should encourage people to undergo testing. He emphasized that diagnosed patients should be helped to access treatment and that low-cost testing facilities should be made available. Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease Prof. Zahid Azam discussed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), from simple steatosis to advanced liver disease. He pointed out that metabolic dysfunction drives the progression to metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and discussed the spectrum of MASLD. He disclosed that some slides used in his presentation had been provided by Novo Nordisk. He explained that steatosis could progress to MASH, followed by MASH with fibrosis and eventually cirrhosis. Effective drugs are now available that can improve liver disease and, in selected patients, potentially reverse fibrosis, he said. Obesity promotes MASH through multiple mechanisms. He highlighted the importance of FibroScan and discussed when patients should be referred for the test. He further stated that around 25% of patients with MASH could develop cirrhosis. He also discussed a trial involving resmetirom 80 mg and 100 mg in 955 patients treated for 52 weeks. The patients also received counselling regarding nutrition and exercise, and significant improvement in fibrosis was reported. He suggested that patients should undergo FibroScan assessment before treatment is initiated. The facility is currently available at only a few institutions in Karachi. The safety and efficacy of semaglutide were also discussed. Many new drugs for the treatment of MASH were in the development pipeline and were likely to become available in the future, he added. Panel Discussion Participating in the discussion, Prof. Bader Fayaz Zuberi said that while viral diseases were being brought under control, metabolic diseases were increasing. Greater awareness about obesity was needed, along with patient education and involvement of dietitians in advising patients about appropriate nutrition. Patients should be encouraged to change unhealthy eating habits, exercise regularly and remain under appropriate monitoring, he said. Brig. Pervaiz Asghar pointed out that metabolic dysfunction was increasing, while obesity and diabetes were major risk factors. He suggested establishing metabolic teams in every hospital and developing standard protocols for the management of such patients. He also discussed optimal glycaemic control and referred to insulin resistance and hypertension. It was important to assess cardiovascular risk factors and renal function, he said. 'We see very few patients with good glycaemic control. We need to interact with and educate patients,' he added. Prof. Sajid Abbas Jafri said metabolic disorders needed to be diagnosed at an early stage. Patients should be advised to exercise regularly, while all high-risk individuals required appropriate monitoring and treatment. Responding to a question from moderator Dr. Tuba regarding the role of the Pakistan Society of Physicians, Prof. Qaiser Jamal said the society wanted to contribute to building a healthier society, creating awareness and helping patients who could not afford treatment. The PSP could provide treatment facilities within institutions for people suffering from obesity, hypertension and diabetes, while also providing technical support to hospitals. The society had already been working in the areas of maternal and child health and was planning initiatives focusing on obesity, which, he said, 'starts from the mother's lap to the kitchen.' The PSP was also working in the field of mental health. Mr. Shaukat Ali Jawaid, Chief Editor of Pulse International and Pakistan Journal of Medical Sciences, was also invited to address the gathering. In his brief remarks, he traced the history of the Pakistan Society of Physicians and highlighted the contribution of healthcare professionals to the spread of hepatitis through the unnecessary use of injections. Qatar Hospital expanding healthcare services Dr. Rashid Siraj, Medical Superintendent of Sindh Government Qatar Hospital, said between 4,000 and 5,000 patients visited the hospital's outpatient department every day, while more than 1.9 million patients had been treated during the previous year. The hospital had added neurology, urology and nephrology services. It was recognized for FCPS Part-II training in medicine, surgery and orthopedics and for MCPS training in ophthalmology. He also disclosed that a state-of-the-art laboratory was being established at the hospital with funding from USAID. He commended the Sindh Health Minister for selecting the hospital for this facility. Dr. Syed Riaz-ul-Hassan thanked the chief guest, speakers, panelists, medical superintendent of the hospital and all members of the organizing committee. He also expressed appreciation to M/s Getz Pharma for sponsoring the seminar.