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13 Million Suffer From Hep B and C in Pakistan
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2006-05-15 15:42:06 Xinhua
About 13 million people in Pakistan are victims of hepatitis B and C, local newspaper Daily Times quoted Huma Qureshi of the Pakistan Medical Research Council as reporting on Monday.
Hepatitis B has so far infected 4 to 5 million people and hepatitis C 6 to 7 million of the total population of Pakistan. They both constitute about 4 or 5 percent of the total population.
Last year a new program was launched for prevention and control of hepatitis-related diseases which would be completed in five years period at a cost of 2.5 billion Rupees (about 41.67 million U.S. dollars), according to Qureshi.
Hepatitis B is a disease caused by a virus which attacks the liver and can cause lifelong infections, cirrhosis, liver cancer, liver failure and ultimately death.
The disease spreads by contact with an infected person's blood, semen or other body fluids, unsafe sex with an infected individual, sharing drug needles, living with someone having the disease.
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