Day 7 – meeting with Chairman of Sheikh Zed hospital, and meeting Dr Alam, Consultant Gastroenterologist

Dr Altaf Alam and myself

We jumped into our cars and raced off to the nearby Sheikh Zed Hospital, a large Private Hospital with Lahore’s only Hepatology Department. There I had a brief meeting with Dr Anwar, where we talked of the epidemic happening in their country, and the difficulty thay were having taking control of it. The Sheikh Zed Hopistal have been instrumental in the drawing up of a Green Paper being considered by the Punjab Parliament. The Green Paper considers legaslisation to stop the spread of Hepatitis. This would include the disposal of sharps, the re-use of needles and the terrible situation where herbal healers or quacks promise 100% cures for Hepatitis C with the use of herbs. The newspapers and street signs are full of these, bringing false hope and exploiting the poor.

I then spent time talking to Dr Altaf Alam Consultant in Gastroenterology. We discussed the difficulty in giving health promotion campaigns with a country with one of the lowest levels of literacy in the world. He shared with me some of the leaflets and posters that they have developed. He was a kind and interesting man, but obviously overwhelmed by the epidemic. He invited me to speak to the Dr’s next Friday at 8 a.m. He also promised to show me around the Gastroenterology Ward so I could see the epidemic for myself.