R E V I E W A RTICLE Hepat Mon 2010; 10(3): 205-214 Hepatitis C in Pakistan: A Review of Available Data Muhammad Umar *, Hamama-tul-Bushra, Masood Ahmad, Muhammad Khurram, Saima Usman, Mohammad Arif, Tashfeen Adam, Zahid Minhas, Adnan Arif, Abdul Naeem, Khushnud Ejaz, Zameer Butt, Muhammad Bilal Department of Medicine, Rawalpindi Medical College, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is increasingly recognized as a major health care problem, and is found frequently in Pakistani settings. In this article we reviewed published and unpublished data related to the seroepidemiology of HCV infection in Pakistan. For this article, data from 132 published studies and three unpublished data sets published/ presented between the period 1992-2008 were utilized. Data of 1,183,329 individuals were gathered. Blood donors (982,481) and the general population (178,322) constituted the majority of these subjects. The frequency of HCV infection in blood donors and in the general population was 3.0 % (95% CI: 3.0- 3.1) and 4.7 (95% CI: 4.6 -4.8), respectively. The frequency among 6,148 pregnant females was 7.3% (95% CI = 6.7 – 8.0). The frequency in healthy children ranged from 0.4 to 4.1% (95% CI = 1.4 – 2.3). Pakistani HCV serofrequency figures are significantly higher (P < 0.0001) compared to those of the corresponding populations in surrounding countries like India, Nepal, Myanmar, Iran and Afghanistan. Keywords: Hepatitis C Virus, Anti-HCV, Pakistan, Serofrequency Introduction Tcompared hepatitis C to a “viral time bomb” he World Health Organization (WHO) has and estimates that about 180 million people (some 3% of the world’s population) are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), 130 million of whom are chronic carriers at risk of developing liver cirrhosis and/or liver cancer. Three to four million persons are newly infected each year, 70% of whom will develop chronic hepatitis. HCV is responsible for 50–76% of all liver cancer cases, and two thirds of all liver transplants in the developed world (1). World Health Statistics 2008 lists cirrhosis of the liver as the 18th commonest cause of mortality in the world, and it is estimated that by 2030, liver cancer will become the 13th commonest cause (2). The prevalence of hepatitis varies from country to country, and at times it will also vary among different regions of the same country. The epidemiological estimates by WHO show that the prevalence of hepatitis C is low (< 1%) in Australia, Canada and northern Europe, and about 1% in countries of medium endemicity, such as the USA and most of Europe. It is high (>2%) in many countries of Africa, Latin America, Central and South-East Asia. In these countries, prevalence figures between 5% and 10% are frequently reported (1). Collecting and comparing health data from across a country is a way to describe health problems, identify trends and help decision-makers set priorities. The global epidemiology of hepatitis C is well established. However, its epidemiology in Pakistan is ill-defined. * Correspondence: Muhammad Umar, M.B.B.S., F.C.P.S., F.R.C.P. Professor of Medicine, Rawalpindi Medical College, 965-B, Saidpur Road, Satellite Town, Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Tel: +92 51 441 4174 Fax: +92 51 442 7614 E-mail: drumarpk@yahoo.com Received: 16 Jul 2009 Accepted: 3 Mar 2010 Revised: 22 Feb 2010 Hepat Mon 2010; 10 (3): 205-214