Dr Nishtar urges private sector to play its role in eliminating hepatitis

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar on Wednesday urged the private sector to play its role in supporting Pakistan to the sustainable development goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030, ARY News reported.

Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad, Dr. Sania Nishtar said, “We hope to eliminate viral hepatitis in Pakistan by promoting public private collaborations.”

In a statement issued by the ministry, she said that it was important area for them to focus on, as this disease disproportionately inflicted the poor and marginalized who usually suffered at the hands of bad health systems and practices.

She said, “There is a need that we understand that elimination of viral hepatitis on a national scale requires public awareness and appropriate prevention strategies to tackle the epidemic.”

Dr Nishtar’s keynote address ended with the signing of a declaration by some Pakistan’s most important private sector employers in a joint commitment to the cause of hepatitis elimination in Pakistan by 2030 in line with commitment made at the World Health Assembly in 2016, read the statement.