A capacity building workshop for Hepatitis C care in Punjab was organized by Health Department, Punjab here today at the State Institute of Health & Family Welfare, Phase-6, Mohali in collaboration with PGIMER & Indian National Association for Study of Liver (INASL). The workshop was inaugurated by Ms Vini Mahajan, Principal Secretary Health & Family Welfare, Punjab. Mr. Hussan Lal, Secretary Medical Education & Research, Pb & MD PHSC, Dr. Yogesh Chawla, Director PGIMER, Chandigarh, Dr. V.A. Saraswat, HOD Hepatology, Sanjay Gandhi PGIMS, Lucknow were among the eminent persons present in the workshop. The objective was to sensitize and capacity building of Medical Specialist across the State in handling Hepatitis C virus cases.
Speaking in the occasion, Ms Vini Mahajan said that the interactive workshop where Diagnosis, prevention & treatment modalities for HCV care were discussed will be useful for medical specialists of the State in treating the Hepatitis-C cases. The treatment of HCV has now been replaced by oral drugs in place of injectables which are directly acting and are safe and effective. The cost & duration of the treatment has been reduced significantly after introduction of oral drugs. She added that the workshop holds specific importance as Punjab has high prevalence of HCV specifically in certain areas. The main focus of the workshop was to treat the patients at the district level Govt. Health Institutions so as to reduce the load of HCV patients in PGI, Chandigarh.
Mr Hussan Lal informed that Health Department has called for tenders for testing and treatment of hepatitis C, the tests and drugs will be available at a cheaper rate to the patients in Govt. Medical Colleges and District Hospitals. He said workshops would be organized during next month which shall focus on sensitization of remaining medical specialists.Dr Yogesh Chawla, Director, PGIMER, Chandigarh lauded the efforts of the State of Punjab for testing and treatment of Hepatitis C and assured that the team of PGIMER will extend the full technical support required in this initiative. He stressed on use of universal precautions by medical and paramedical staff of the hospitals in order to prevent the spread of the disease, specially through clinical infections.Dr. V.A. Saraswat informed that India is among top five countries in the world with very high load of Hepatitis-C virus and Punjab is considered the State contributing a large number of cases to this load.
Capacity building for HCV in Punjab which is being carried out to sensitize medical specialists from the Govt. Medical Colleges and District Hospitals of the State in the first phase will help the doctors to diagnose and treat hepatitis C cases in the field areas.Dr RK Dhiman, Professor Hepatology PGIMER informed that there are certain hotspots in the State where the prevalence of Hepatitis C is higher but epidemiological studies need to be conducted to know the exact prevalence of the disease. The annual report of IDSP (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme) for 2015 was also released during the workshop.