Health concerns: Drug resistant TB spreads rapidly in province

Doctors say the biggest impediment in getting treatment is the stigma attached to the disease.

PESHAWAR: The World Health Organization (WHO) annually registers around 1,500 patients suffering from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, treatment of which takes two years instead of the usual six months.

Addressing journalists at the Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday, TB Control Project Provincial Director Dr Obaid Hussain said 35,848 TB patients were registered in 2012 and the success rate of their treatment remained 94%.

Dr Hussain said Pakistan ranks at number 5 among the 22 countries where this fatal disease is increasing rapidly. Around 50,000 TB patients are registered in the province every year, he added.

“We have established 228 diagnostic and 810 treatment centres across the province and have also created an online reporting system. Between 2002 and 2012, a total of 293,166 patients were treated,” Hussain claimed.

“We plan to treat 80% of MDR-TB patients by 2015. The GeneXpert machine has made it possible to diagnose the disease sooner. These machines were installed in major hospitals of Peshawar along with the Mardan Medical Complex. They will also be installed in Swat, Lower Dir, Batgram, Abbottabad, Bannu and DI Khan soon,” said Dr Hussain.



Dr Muhammad Yousaf, a chest specialist, said the biggest hurdle in getting timely treatment was the stigma attached with the disease, which makes patients shy away from doctors and seeking treatment.

Participants of the conference said a large number of people in the province receive treatment in private healthcare institutions, thus the government is also extending support to them. A number of private clinics and hospitals have been provided with medicines to prescribe to MDR-TB patients.

The press conference was organised to raise awareness about World TB Day, to be observed on March 24 under the theme of ‘Stop TB in My Lifetime’.

The WHO, however, has warned funding constraints may impede TB control efforts. The WHO and Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria announced in a meeting held in Geneva on Tuesday that strains of TB bacteria resistant to multiple drugs could spread widely. They highlighted the need for at least $1.6 billion annually for treatment and prevention of the disease worldwide.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2013.