LAHORE – Like other parts of the globe, World Tuberculosis Day will be observed across the country today (Sunday) for creating public awareness about the epidemic and efforts to eliminate the disease.
‘Stop TB in my life time' is the slogan for this year’s World TB Day encompassing the ambitions of all governments, health care professionals, civil society organizations and health development partners involved in TB care, and points to the ultimate target of Global TB Elimination by the year 2050.
Workshops, free medical camps and walks will be organized both at the government and private level to renew the pledge of using all resources to eradicate the menace of TB.
Currently Tuberculosis causes the deaths of about 1.7 million people each year, mostly in the developing countries. 24th March actually commemorates the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch discovered the TB bacillus Mycobacterium Tuberculosis that actually causes the disease. The discovery opened the way toward diagnosing and curing tuberculosis.
. Dr Ni'ma Saeed Abid, the WHO Representative in Pakistan highlighted the fact the Tuberculosis is essentially a disease of poverty and any investment on the control of the disease can lead to overall economic development of the country. Tuberculosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the country and is among the top three causes of death for women in their child bearing age. The high prevalence of Multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) in Pakistan is another cause for concern and WHO has been facilitating a Drug Resistance Survey to estimate the exact burden of the problem. He asserted that Tobacco use greatly increases the risk of TB disease and death and more than 20% of TB cases worldwide are attributable to smoking, constituting an important rationale for enforcing anti-tobacco legislation in the country.
Dr Abid pointed out that WHO was pursuing its six core functions in Pakistan including providing technical leadership on matters critical to TB, developing evidence-based policies, strategies and standards for TB prevention, care and control, providing technical support to catalyze change, and build sustainable capacity; measuring progress in TB care, control, and financing, shaping the TB research agenda and stimulating the production, translation and dissemination of valuable knowledge and fostering effective partnerships for TB action.
He highlighted the fact that WHO was facilitating the technical support of the Institute of Tropical Medicine Belgium to act a supranational laboratory for TB Control in Pakistan.
WHO Pakistan's National Professional Officer for TB Control Dr Ghulam Nabi Kazi has lauded the successes of the national and provincial mechanisms for Tuberculosis control in the country leading to a case detection rate of 69% cases of all types of TB cases, 64% of smear positive cases and a treatment success rate of 92%. However, TB action has to be scaled up from all dimensions to meet the growing challenges with regard to both simple and uncomplicated Tuberculosis and drug resistant or MDR Tuberculosis.
Dr Kazi stated that WHO estimates a prevalence of 350 cases /100,000 and an incidence of 231/100,000 population translating into 620,000 prevalent cases and 410,000 new cases appearing every year of all types of Tuberculosis in a population of 177 million. The Prevalence Survey, Incidence study through capture-recapture method and Drug Prevalence Survey results should be out soon to outline the exact proportions of the burden. However the activities need to be carried on with renewed vigor. He pointed out that the successive governments at federal and provincial level have shown great commitment for the cause of Tuberculosis control ever since it was declared a National Emergency on 24th March 2001 by the Federal Government depicted by the fact that 5,800 TB Management Units have been designated all over the country to provide free diagnostic and treatment services free of charge. Similarly twelve tertiary care institutions or teaching hospitals are providing MDR-TB services. He noted that following devolution, three Provincial Development Working Parties in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber-PK had approved their respective provincial PC-Is, however, while the one in Sindh was in limbo due to certain procedural formalities, the ones in Punjab and KP were awaiting CDWP approval. In Balochistan the PC-I is under preparation.