Experts say tuberculosis still a menace

LAHORE: At present, Tuberculosis (TB) control tools are insufficient to confront the global prevalence of the deadly disease. Therefore, new tools and interventions are much needed, said University of Health Sciences (UHS) Vice Chancellor Dr Junaid Sarfraz Khan.

He was speaking after the inauguration of the tuberculosis laboratory at the Microbiology Department on Wednesday. The lab was named after its first head (late) Dr Abdul Hannan.



“It is a myth that TB is an illness of the past. The fatal disease is still a threat to people of the world,” he said. Every year, around 430,000 people, including 15,000 children, suffer from TB in the country and almost 70,000 people die from it, he added.

A century ago, tuberculosis was everywhere and could not be treated through medicines, he said. Once health officials predicted the disease would be eradicated by 1915, but they were wrong because it still remains a major killer, said Dr Junaid.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2017.