Honourable Minister for National Health Services and Coordination, my sister Saira Afzal Tarar;
Regional Director for the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, my brother Mahmoud Fikri;
Departmental secretaries of health,
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Good afternoon. It is a real pleasure to be with you today.
I congratulate the government of Pakistan for the hard work you have put in over many months to develop this National Hepatitis Strategic Framework.
Without vision, progress is impossible. Without goals, we go nowhere.
I am encouraged, therefore, by the bold vision of this framework and the goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030.
The numbers are sobering. Hepatitis kills more than 1.3 million people globally each year, and more than half of those deaths are in south and east Asia.
Here in Pakistan, more than 8 million people are living with hepatitis C – more than 10% of the world’s total -- and 4 million with hepatitis B.
Pakistan is one of the few countries in the world where transmission is still ongoing on a large scale.
Urgent action is required.
But there are encouraging signs that you are on the right track.
Once-unaffordable medicines are now within reach, thanks to your success in reducing prices through local manufacturing.
As a result, the number of people receiving treatment for hepatitis C has more than doubled.
My message to you is: don't stop.
Testing and treatment must continue to be expanded to everyone who needs it.
But it is futile to attempt to mop up a flood. We must turn off the tap by taking action to prevent infections.
That means ensuring that health care is safe, with a particular focus on infection control, blood safety and injection safety, including the safe disposal of needles and syringes.
No one should be infected when seeking care, and no health worker should be infected while delivering care.
Routine vaccination must be strengthened, including at birth.
And we must scale up harm reduction services for people who inject drugs.
Because we will not reach our goal until we reach the most marginalised communities. That is what it means to leave no-one behind.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The world is full of frameworks, roadmaps and action plans that sit on shelves collecting dust, and never make a difference to people.
I urge you, starting now, to translate your good intentions into concrete actions that transform the health of your people.
Sustained political commitment is essential to turn this national strategy into actionable, costed provincial plans, including monitoring and evaluation.
Ultimately, this strategy must become part of a broader vision for achieving universal health coverage in Pakistan.
Your horizon must not be only the elimination of hepatitis as a national health threat, but a nation in which all people can access the health services they need, when and where they need them, without facing financial hardship.
Rest assured that WHO stands ready to support you every step of the way.
I thank you.