Hepatitis screening mandatory for federal employees

Pakistani Minister for Health Mustafa Kamal on Tuesday declared that a nationwide Hepatitis C screening drive would be launched under the program of the Prime Minister to prevent the deadly disease, requesting every Pakistani eligible for the test to take the test for the disease.

Speaking to the press after launching the test for Hepatitis C for the staff of the Ministry of Health, Kamal stated that he had made it mandatory for all the employees of the ministry to take the test.

Kamal stated that steps were also being taken to make it mandatory for the employees of all the ministries of the federation.

Pakistan faces one of the world’s largest hepatitis C burdens. The World Health Organization estimates that around 8.8 million people in Pakistan were living with hepatitis C in 2022, while the country has been identified as having the highest burden of the disease globally.

The government’s national elimination programme aims to test 50 per cent of the eligible population, around 82.5 million people aged 12 and above provide treatment to five million people by 2027.

In May 2026, Pakistan and WHO launched the programme in Islamabad, initially targeting 1.6 million people in the capital before expanding the initiative nationwide. The broader programme aims to test more than 164 million people in subsequent phases, with the goal of eliminating hepatitis C as a public health threat by 2030.

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne infection that can cause chronic liver disease, cirrhosis and liver cancer. WHO says modern antiviral medicines can cure more than 95 per cent of people infected with the virus, making early diagnosis and treatment critical.

The minister’s call for widespread testing comes as health authorities seek to identify undiagnosed cases and expand access to treatment as part of Pakistan’s broader effort to eliminate the disease.