Controlling TB: Doctors’ laxity blamed for rising cases

Government trains general practitioners across the country


Sehrish Wasif October 24, 2014

ISLAMABAD: It took Mohammad Aslam a year to realise that he was suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) as he went to a number of doctors but the majority of them treated him for other diseases.

“Though I got a clue from the symptoms and the way my health condition was deteriorating, I was waiting for a doctor to diagnose it,” said the 71-year-old, who had come from Peshawar to attend the first TB patient symposium on Thursday.  The event was organised by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination (NHSRC) held at a local hotel and was attended by TB patients from across the country along with health experts.



Talking to The Express Tribune, Aslam said he had prolonged coughing with sputum and kept losing weight.

“I went to a private hospital with hopes that unlike public hospitals I will get the best treatment but the doctor failed to diagnose the disease and kept on giving me other medicines due to which I lost control over my legs and hands,” he said.

Later, Aslam’s son took him to a public hospital where after a year from the start of his disease, he was diagnosed with TB and began receiving treatment.

Kamran Malik, a resident of Lahore, also went through the same experience during his diagnosis.

“I went to a well-known private hospital where a doctor performed surgery and took away my swollen gland as he thought it had been infected. For this, he charged me Rs35,000,” he said.

After the surgery, Malik experienced the same pain and later one a friend took him to Mayo Hospital where he was diagnosed with TB of the glands and got treated.



“Doctor’s in private set ups also failed to dingoes my wife’s lungs’ TB and at the age of 26, passed away,” revealed Malik.

It is unfortunate that in Pakistan, many well-qualified doctors in private hospitals mostly fail to diagnose TB, lamented Dr Ismat Ara, director TB control in Sindh, while talking to The Express Tribune.

“It is mainly because of lack of awareness among medical professionals and due to this ultimately the patient has to suffer,” she said.

To address this issue, the government is currently training general practitioners across the country, she added.

With the support of Global Fund, World Health Organisation (WHO) and USAID, around 1,500 laboratories and 5,000 treatment sites have been established across the country where free-of-cost treatment facilities are provided.

According to WHO, around 500,000 new cases of TB emerge every year in Pakistan and it is estimated that annually 15,000 cases of drug resistant TB are reported.

“Pakistan ranks fourth among the 22 high-burden countries for TB which is alarming and worrisome,” she said.

In a conservative society like Pakistan, the biggest challenge in treating TB patients is that people are either unaware of the disease and those who know about it mostly try to hide it, considering it a social taboo, she said.

TB is curable, treated through Directly Observed Treatment Short-course. A person diagnosed with the disease should complete six months of its treatment under a qualified health practitioner to rid the disease.


Published in The Express Tribune, October 24th, 2014.

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