Islamabad - Almost 0.5 million people get infected with tuberculosis annually in Pakistan but of them only 0.3 million get themselves registered with the government centres providing free of cost treatment while the rest either fall for wrong treatment in private centres or fail to access any treatment altogether.
Pakistan is having the 4th highest incidence in the world, which does not occupy an enviable position with regard to Tuberculosis. The key to controlling TB is to raise awareness about its symptoms and encourage sufferers to seek treatment which is available free of cost, remarked Minister of State National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Saira Afzal Tarar.
It is to ensure that patients follow the full course of medication for the prescribed period. Also, tuberculosis carries social stigma, which is a major obstacle for treatment. Public education and building awareness can help prevent a deepening epidemic, she added.
The minister was addressing a seminar here Wednesday to commemorate World TB Day 2015, organised by National TB Control Program (NTP), Ministry of National Health Services Regulation & Coordination.
TB is a curable disease and government of Pakistan is providing free of cost treatment services throughout Pakistan. We always hear that “Prevention is better than Cure “but in TB treatment of TB, it is the prevention of TB also and this is the message to be given to the community, she stressed.
World TB Day that is observed on March 24 is an occasion to urge action to stop tuberculosis, a disease, which still kills an appalling number of people every day. It is spread through the coughs and sneezes of an infected person and a patient who is not treated can infect about 10 people in a year.
With TB claiming millions of innocent lives every year the world over, Pakistan is one of those third world countries which carry a large TB burden and contribute 65 per cent of disease burden in Eastern Mediterranean region, shared National TB Control Program Manager Dr Ejaz Qadeer. The overall global situation does not portray a very pleasant picture but there is no doubt that the efforts to control TB in Pakistan would significantly affect the global and regional targets to control tuberculosis, he said.
National TB Control Program provides free of cost services for the diagnosis of sensitive and drug resistant TB and there are around 1400 peripheral microscopy centres, including 200 centres in the private sector, performing the diagnosis of TB by sputum examination, he shared.
The expert testing for the rapid diagnosis of drug resistant TB is being performed at 43 sites in the country and there are plans for further expansion by NTP. The Culture /DST network is being expanded to provide diagnostic support for programmatic management of Drug resistant TB in the country.
More than 1.5 million TB patients were diagnosed and treated free of cost with quality assured anti TB drugs in both public and private sector across the country since 2001 through a network of 1500 quality assured microscopy centres and 4000 treatment centres, shared the programme manager.
This network is expanding gradually to ensure accessibility of TB care services to every TB patient in Pakistan.
Around 300,000 TB cases were notified to National TB Control Program and treatment success rate remained at 91 per cent during 2013. Data show that 75 per cent of the patients are youngsters who are breadwinners for their families in the most of the cases, he said.
As many as, 5886 multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients were enrolled since June 2010 to December 2014 in 24 PMDT sites and 3435 patients are still under/on treatment by the end of December 2014. Ten hospitals have been assessed for infection control and up-gradation plan has been developed to implement infection control measures to reduce the risk of transmission.
He said that since the inception of the programme in 2001, 2.4 million lives were saved and 90 per cent of them treated successfully and there has been 50 per cent decrease in TB mortality (from 69 to 27) since 1990. But 1/3 of cases still remain undetected every year that is the biggest challenge for the programme.