32.4 million Pakistanis have mental illness, 12.9 million hepatitis patients, NA told

ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Health Services has presented figures on mental illness, hepatitis and HIV/AIDS in the National Assembly. According to them, about 32.4 million people in the country suffer from mental illness.

According to the report, the number of people with mental illness was 30 million in 2019. It rose to 32.4 million by 2023, an increase of 2.4 million. In Islamabad alone, more than 300,000 people are affected.

Only 1,050 psychiatrists are registered across the country, or one for every 245,000 people. Punjab has 406 registered psychiatrists, Sindh 228, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 122 and Balochistan 44.

Citing World Health Organisation figures, the ministry said the country has about 9 million hepatitis C patients and more than 3.86 million hepatitis B patients. Together, the number of those affected comes to 12.9 million. According to the report, Pakistan ranks first in the world in the number of hepatitis C patients.

Hepatitis causes about 48,000 deaths a year. In 2024, more than 88,000 new cases of hepatitis C were reported.

The number of people living with HIV is put at more than 417,000. Of these, 92,148 are registered and 67,878 are receiving antiretroviral therapy. Annual new cases were 16,000 in 2010 and rose to 48,000 in 2024. HIV tests numbered 37,944 in 2020, while in 2025 the figure reached 374,000.

Between January 2025 and June 2026, about 3,900 children were registered as HIV positive. They include 1,915 in Sindh, 1,765 in Punjab, 139 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 46 in Balochistan and 30 in Islamabad. Four children were registered in Azad Kashmir and one in Gilgit-Baltistan.