Health minister tells international conference
At least 80 lakh people with hepatitis B are prone to serious kind of liver diseases, which should be handled by skilled hepatologists, said hepatologists at the inauguration of Livercon 2010, the 9th biannual international conference of Association for the Study of the Liver, Bangladesh (ASLB) held at a city hotel yesterday.
Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque in his speech as the chief guest called upon the hepatologists to come forward to work in the area of liver transplantation, which is crucial for the moment as the number of liver patients increasing rapidly.
“The rich people can go abroad for the transplantation but the poor and middle income group can not afford the expenses of the treatment. If we can provide the treatment in our hospitals that costs would be affordable for all class of people”, he said.
He said the government would provide all supports to the hepatologists for liver transplantation and other form of liver treatment for the poor patients.
The main reason of the liver cirrhosis or other form of severe liver diseases are caused from the hepatitis B, so people should be careful about the causes of the HBV, said ASLB Secretary General Dr Mamun-Al-Mahtab.
State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Mujibur Rahman Fakir also spoke at the inaugural ceremony with ASLB President Prof Salimur Rahman in the chair.
Hepatology as an independent department is now functioning at only eight public and one private medical colleges other than Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.
A number of pharmaceutical companies took part in the daylong conference and showcased their products used for liver disease treatment.
