Fund-starved: Staff go without salary at TB Control Programme

Health minister says Pakistan has fifth-highest incidence of TB in the world.

ISLAMABAD:

The future of the National Tuberculosis (TB) Control Programme can be gauged by the fact that 37 of its employees have not received salaries for the past two years.

The Government has yet to release Rs44 million in funds, National TB Programme Manager Ejaz Qadeer said, adding that the programme is solely being run on donor funding and the government has not paid a single penny.



He said $129 million from donors is being used for treating patients and training staff, however, there is no money to pay salaries for many staffers, he said.

“I am worried about the future of the programme,” he said.

In Pakistan, 420,000 people are diagnosed with TB every year. Of them 120,000 fail to get proper treatment.

He said in Islamabad Capital Territory, an estimated 900 people get treatment at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Polyclinic Hospital and other federal dispensaries.

“Though efforts are underway to control the spread of TB through treatment and awareness, if the programme does not get timely attention from the government, all its efforts will go in vain,” he said.

Minister of State for National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar said Pakistan has the fifth-highest incidence of TB in the world.



She said, multidrug resistant TB is also a major challenge and the government is providing specialised treatment to over 3,140 such patients at 18 treatment centres across Pakistan.

“The government is making efforts to stop the spread of disease and ensure that patients get timely treatment,” she claimed.

Meanwhile, to mark World Tuberculosis Day, United States Agency for International Development Acting Mission Director Nancy Estes presented the 2010-11 Pakistan TB Prevalence Survey at a seminar on Tuesday, said a press release. This is the first survey of its kind since 1987.

The survey estimates 348 out of every 100,000 people suffer from the disease.

TB is a disease that usually infects the lungs and spreads from person to person through air.

Estes said, “We must double our efforts to effectively combat TB in Pakistan.”

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2014.