UP’s first hepatology department starts at SGPGI

The Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) started the department of hepatology for treatment for liver diseases. Addressing the gathering at the department’s opening on Tuesday, SGPGI director prof RK Dhiman said: “The department is first of its kind in UP and we plan to roll out a sustainable liver transplant programme soon.”

Inaugurating the out-patient department services, minister for medical education Suresh Khanna said: “The state government wants that no patient in need is forced to go out of the state for treatment of liver diseases.”
The importance of the department may be gauged from the fact that about 10% of the country’s population suffers with liver diseases.

In the keynote address, director of Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, Prof Shiv Kumar Sarin explained the need to have a fullfledged department of hepatology in UP.

“The burden of liver disease due to hepatitis B and C, alcohol and fatty liver is enormous in Uttar Pradesh. Fatty liver leads to diabetes, hypertension, gallstones and cancer. The collective efforts of department of gastroenterology, surgical gastroenterology and hepatology will lead to a comprehensive programme for the prevention and treatment of chronic liver disease,” he said. TOI