A dramatic drop in the cost of revolutionary new hepatitis drugs could see Pakistan lead the way in stamping out one of the world's most prevalent infectious diseases.

Hepatitis C infects as many as seven million people in Pakistan, making it one of the worst affected countries on the planet.

The virus is responsible for a silent epidemic with most sufferers unaware they are infected until their livers have suffered years of irreversible damage, or they have cancer.

A sharp fall in the cost of powerful new drugs and screening kits now offers the chance to transform the way the infection is treated according to the aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF).

The charity is running a pilot project in a Karachi slum which aims to use the new low cost drugs to cure people in small grass roots clinics rather than central hospitals.