Hepatitis on campus
 

DEATH by any means is painful, only more so if its cause can be prevented. The results of blood tests carried out at Punjab University in Lahore show how lack of prevention could be endangering the lives of many young men and women. The tests, conducted by a student organisation with help from doctors, paints a grim picture of students’ health. It reveals that 139 out of the 2,000 students tested were infected with various types of hepatitis and at least one was found to be HIV positive. If nothing else, this high number of severely infected students follows the pattern found in the population generally. Although the student’s party attacked the university administration for the prevalence of these diseases and held the poor state of hygiene at the campus responsible for it, it is not fair to heap the blame on the management. Hepatitis C and hepatitis B, which were found to be most common, also have a high incidence in the overall population. They are not waterborne diseases as is being made out to be. Of the various varieties, only hepatitis A can be prevented by ensuring that the water supply is potable.

The university administration claims that the blood tests are a political move and an attempt to give it a black name by an organisation trying to arm-twist PU into submission. The varsity authorities also argue that water available at the campus is lab-tested and has been found fit for human consumption, and as such the students’ ill health cannot be blamed on what they eat and drink on campus. This claim may be correct. But the university would do well to arrange for the vaccination of all students against hepatitis B, the only variety for which vaccine is available. In fact all universities in the country should follow suit. After all, if schools are considered the best place to give children anti-polio drops, why can’t colleges and universities become a convenient venue for administering anti-hepatitis vaccines?