www.tufsteam.com Innovations in STEAM: Research & Education ISSN (print): 3105-7071; ISSN (online): 3105-708X Volume 2; Issue 1; Article No. 24020101 https://doi.org/10.63793/ISRE/0011 RESEARCH ARTICLE © 2024 The Authors. Innovations in STEAM: Research & Education published by The University of Faisalabad, Faisalabad, Pakistan This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited Prescribing Trends of Hepatitis C in Hospitals of Faisalabad, Pakistan Sana Shahzad, Sana Javed, Medeha Fatima, Fauzia Rehman Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, The University of Faisalabad, Faisalabad 38000, Pakistan METADATA Paper history Received: 22 January 2024 Revised: 12 March 2024 Accepted: 12 May 2024 Published online: 25 May 2024 Corresponding author Email: sanashahzad.PHARM@tuf.edu.pk (Sana Shahzad) Keywords Hepatitis Public health Risk factors Medication Healthcare policies Pakistan Citation Shahzad S, Javed S, Fatima M, Rehman F (2024) Prescribing trends of hepatitis C in hospitals of Faisalabad, Pakistan. Innovations in STEAM: Research & Education 2: 24020101. https://doi.org/10.63793/ISRE/0011 ABSTRACT Background: Hepatitis is a priority area of public health in Pakistan in which Hepatitis B and C is prevalent at high prevalence and presents the enormous challenge for the healthcare sector. Objective: To find out the trends, risk factors and control strategies for hepatitis in Pakistan. Methodology: This study was conducted on patients who got treatment with hepatitis C virus (HCV) medicines; a comparative cross-sectional survey was done. To do this, 270 patients were given a standardised, closed ended questionnaire to fill out. Data were compared using age, gender, marital status, present medication and side effects. Epidemiology of hepatitis was studied on the basis of English and Urdu data from English and Urdu newspapers, national health databases, as recorded in hospital records and published papers. The chosen technique is in accordance with well-elaborated principles of public health research that guarantee precision and reliability. The results of the Pakistan Health Research Council, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and the World Health Organisation were used with the secondary data and carried out retrospective observational analysis based on the secondary data. Results: Infection rates by species, geographic distribution and the success of prevention efforts in place are discussed based on the data given in the national health, research articles. It was seen that unsafe medical procedures, low vaccination coverages and low awareness on the part of the common person brought on a lack of burden of hepatitis, in particular, the rural populace and the individuals who were unfortunate. Changes have been made with government led initiatives including vaccination program and blood screen policies; however, the application is hindered by poor healthcare accessibility and socioeconomic barriers. The study gives an edge to the importance of public health interventions such as mass awareness campaigns, better sanitation and wider vaccination. Healthcare policies be strengthened and hepatitis control strategies be integrated into the primary healthcare services to achieve a great failure in reduction. Conclusion: A multi-sectoral response that combines government agencies, healthcare providers, and community outreach needs to be employed to limit spread of hepatitis in Pakistan. INTRODUCTION About 180 million individuals throughout the world have contracted hepatitis C virus (HCV). Various nations have stated prevalence rates of hepatitis C infection. According to Alberts et al. (2022), the rates of HCV were found to be highest in Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. They were moderate in South Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, Central and Southern Latin America, the Caribbean, Oceania, Australasia, Middle Eastern and Central Europe, and Tropical Latin America and North America. About 15–20% of those infected with HCV are able to recover, whereas the remaining 75–85% develop hepatitis C. Research shows that, compared to other cities in Pakistan, the prevalence of hepatitis C is on a rise in Faisalabad, where it affects roughly 24% population (Abbas et al. 2024). When it comes to liver disease, hepatitis C is at the top of the list for complications, deaths, and transplants. Only 1% of hepatitis