Doctors, officials in Gilgit say facilities and free medicine available but people don’t know how to use the. PHOTO: REUTERS/FILE
GILGIT: While treatment for the hitherto deadly tuberculosis (TB) virus may now be available free of cost, the public at large generally lacks any awareness about its availability, especially in in the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) region.
These observations were shared during an event organised to mark World TB Day in Gilgit on Friday.
“We have free-of-cost medicines and 20 [tuberculosis] diagnosis centres in G-B, but people do not know about it,” said Dr Muhammad Saleem, project director for the Primary Health care Initiative (PPHI) while addressing the ceremony.
“We are going to setup another 17 such [diagnostic] centres in G-B for public convenience and we encourage them to take benefit of these resources.”
He added they were currently treating 11 registered tuberculosis patients.
Dr Saleem added that Pakistan had the fifth most number of tuberculosis patients in the world as compared to neighbouring India, which topped the charts for most patients of the pulmonary disease.
District health officer (DHO) Dr Iqbal Rasool said that tuberculosis was curable provided it was if diagnosed in a timely fashion, could also save a lot of money in treatment costs for the patient.
He asked parents to have their kids vaccinated during the first year after birth to ensure their children remain healthy.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister Law and Works Dr Muhammad Iqbal – who is also a medical doctor by training - said that his government was reviewing a proposal for devising a sewerage system for entire Gilgit town but the project would cost Rs6 million.
“We are trying to arrange funds for the project, though the amount is too big for our budget,” he said.
He asked health department officials to make arrangements for reaching out to communities unaware about the effects of TB virus.
Curable disease
Dr Wasim Khawaja, a medical expert at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) says that tuberculosis is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis which often affects the lungs. However, the disease is curable.
He said that TB spreads from people-to-people through the air. When someone infected by TB coughs, sneezes or spits, they propel the bacteria into the air infecting others within a short radius.
Dr Khawaja added people infected with TB have a 10 per cent lifetime risk of falling ill with the disease. However, those who have compromised immune systems, such as those living with HIV, malnutrition or diabetes, or people who use tobacco, have a much higher risk of falling ill.
Meanwhile, Dr Sharif Astori at the Polyclinic in Islamabad said that TB’s symptoms include a cough with sputum and blood at times, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats. He added many countries still rely on a long-used method called sputum smear microscopy to diagnose TB in which trained laboratory technicians look at sputum samples under a microscope to see if TB bacteria are present.
However, this method only detects around half of all cases. Moreover, it cannot detect drug-resistance. However, now doctors have started using the rapid test Xpert MTB/RIF ever since the World Health Organisation recommended it in 2010.
WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP
Published in The Express Tribune, March 25th, 2017.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ