Pakistan 8th among 22 high burden TB nations

Health experts unimpressed with govt’s attempts to curtail spread of TB.

ISLAMABAD: A cough that has lasted well over three weeks and throws up blood warrants a visit to a doctor. It might turn out to be tuberculosis (TB) and the sooner the eight-month-long treatment starts the better. Other TB symptoms include weight loss, fever, loss of appetite and fatigue.

Health experts at a seminar, in Islamabad Club to mark the World TB Day on Thursday, were not particularly happy with the government’s efforts to curb the spread of TB, despite getting ample funds from international donors.

According to WHO, Pakistan ranks eighth among the 22 high burden countries for TB. Health ministry figures show that about 420,000 new cases emerge every year, contributing about 55 per cent of the TB burden to the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Islam Hamid, General Secretary of Stop TB Partnership, said in Pakistan poor people are the real victims. He said TB results in a loss of about 20 million work days every year. “This causes a loss of about Rs3 billion to the economy of the country,” he added.

At the end, a panel of health experts termed the influx of Afghan migrants and the recent natural calamities as the main reason contributing to the spread of TB in Pakistan. The migrants are not being tested for TB on borders, airports and railway stations, they said. The problem is further compounded by limited reach of the TB control programme, lack of awareness and TB specialists, and poor quality and inadequate supply of medicines, the panel concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th_, 2011.