PMA Secretary General Says Pakistan Carries The Global Heaviest HCV Load With 10 Million Chronic Cases While Unsafe Injections Account For 44 Percent Of All New Global Hepatitis C Infections
According to Dawn, on World Hepatitis Day July 28, 2026, Pakistan Medical Association Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro stated that 13.8 million Pakistanis live with chronic viral hepatitis; 10 million with Hepatitis C and 3.8 million with Hepatitis B; placing the country fifth globally behind only China, India, Indonesia and Nigeria.
The national Hepatitis C prevalence ranges between 4.8 and 7.5 percent of the population, while Hepatitis B affects 1.1 to 1.7 percent. Complications including liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma kill over 37,000 Pakistanis annually.
WHO data cited by Dr Shoro shows Pakistan accounts for 44 percent of all new global Hepatitis C infections caused by unsafe medical injections. Approximately 110,000 new infections occur each year; 62 percent linked to unsafe medical procedures including unscreened blood transfusions, and 38 percent to injection drug use.
Primary transmission drivers include reuse of non-sterile syringes, unscreened blood, unsanitary dental and surgical procedures, barber shop razors, tattooing and quackery.
37,000 deaths a year. 110,000 new infections a year. A preventable epidemic that has been allowed to persist.
Check out our previous coverage of Pakistan’s public health on The Trusted Times.
