Hepatitis C test to be made mandatory for CNIC, foreign travel

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to make Hepatitis C screening mandatory for obtaining a Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) and for people travelling abroad, Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the launch of a mandatory Hepatitis C screening programme for government employees in Islamabad under the Prime Minister’s Hepatitis C Elimination Programme, the minister said the screening initiative would be implemented in phases. The federal capital will be covered in the first phase, he added.

Mustafa Kamal said Hepatitis C screening was mandatory for everyone in Pakistan aged 12 and above.

“Today, we have made Hepatitis C screening mandatory for employees of the Ministry of National Health Services, and we are writing to other ministries as well for the same purpose,” he said.

He said employees who failed to undergo the mandatory test would have their salaries withheld.

Read more: Govt to withhold salaries of employees refusing ‘This test’

The minister said records of Hepatitis C screening were being linked with the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).

He added that the government planned to make Hepatitis C testing mandatory for obtaining a CNIC and for people travelling abroad.

The minister said the measures were part of the government’s efforts to expand Hepatitis C screening nationwide and eliminate the disease as a public health threat.