Tuberculosis kills more women worldwide every year than all the causes of maternal mortality combined, according to Dr Javaid Khan, chief of pulmonary and critical care at the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH).
He was speaking at a seminar organised by the hospital for World TB Day on Tuesday.
TB is an ancient disease and nearly eight million people across the world will lose their lives by 2015 if something is not done to stop it from spreading.
Diagnosis - X-rays will not do
“TB cannot be diagnosed by chest X-ray alone and the results should be further verified by a sputum (mucus or phlegm) examination,” said Ali Zubairi, an associate professor at AKUH.
This is the most cost-effective way of diagnosing the disease. The simple examination needs to be of a patient’s sputum for at least two days, added Dr Kauser Jabeen, an assistant professor at AKUH’s pathology and microbiology department. However, many physicians in Pakistan resort to costly serological tests whose results are debatable, she pointed out. Dr Jabeen also called for quality control in laboratories.
Take your meds on time
“While dealing with tuberculosis, it is vital to explain to the patient the nature of the disease, the duration of treatment and its possible side-effects,” advised Dr Muhammad Irfan, who is associated with the pulmonary centre. He urged patients not to change or stop taking their medication. If the complete course of drugs is not taken, the TB bacilli become resistant. This can develop into multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) which takes longer to treat and can only be cured with second-line drugs, he explained. “That treatment is not only more expensive but has many side-effects as well.”
Dr Javaid Khan advised TB patients to follow the Directly Observed Treatment, Short course (DOTS) programme recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and complete a six-month course of anti-TB drugs. Meanwhile, Dow University of Health Sciences assistant professor Dr Nisar Ahmed Rao suggested that free-of-charge treatment should be provided at all government-run TB clinics.
Preventative measures
AKUH department of medicine associate professor Dr Bushra Jamil stressed on doctors and nurses also taking preventive measures. Both patients and healthcare providers should wear face masks for at least two weeks from the start of treatment, she said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 23rd, 2011.
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