“I felt as if I was on the brink of death. I had no idea what was happening to me,” recalls Muhammad Ahsan, sitting anxiously outside the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hepatitis C facility in Machar Colony, Karachi, in Pakistan, awaiting his third post-treatment test. “I was so weak, and I couldn't even move. My family was worried: my children were young, and I was the only breadwinner. I felt like I was leaving them behind.”

Ahsan’s journey began eight years ago when he was diagnosed with hepatitis C. At the time, he was a robust 68kg, but his weight soon plummeted to a mere 37kg. Originally from Gujrat, over 1,200 kilometres away from Karachi, he had spent 25 years in Soldier Bazar, Karachi, before returning to his village last year.