KARACHI, Oct 21: The provincial secretary for health, Khalid Latif Chaudhry, has underscored the need for raising public awareness about the significance of the Directly-Observed Therapy Short Course (DOTS) to combat the menace of Tuberculosis.

Presiding over a review meeting of the TB Control Programme for Sindh, the secretary stressed that proper projection of the DOTS strategy should be particularly stressed towards the high- risk areas of Tharparkar, Umerkot, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Dadu.

In this regard, he also sought support of the Nazims and DCOs and also directed the authorities associated with the provincial health education programme to develop liaison with the TB Control Programme in an effort to educate the masses about the curable ailment.

The meeting expressed satisfaction over the fact that efforts were being consolidated with reference to DOTS in almost all districts across the province, while significant micro-planning has been particularly undertaken for the greater Karachi area.

The Director General of Health Services, Sindh, Dr Fateh Muhammad Khan, who had recently visited Tharparkar, expressed his satisfaction over the TB-related medical services being provided to the population of the area, but felt that the default rate in Taluka Islamkot was on the higher side.

Dr Ghulam Nabi Kazi, the WHO National Programme Officer for TB control, informed the meeting that the WHO regional office in Cairo has approved three research projects for operational research on TB in Sindh.

The search topics, he said, included determining the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among juvenile detainees in Karachi, gender perspectives in knowledge, attitudes and practices concerning tuberculosis in Sindh, determining whether provision of free sputum microscopy service and free anti-TB drugs to general practitioners (GPs) help in their case notification to the national TB programme.

The research will commence soon and is expected to facilitate programme implementation, Dr Kazi said, informing that a session to discuss the issues involved in public-private partnerships in Sindh will be chalked out in a consultative meeting scheduled for Oct 24, which again is to be presided over by the health secretary.

Dr Ghulam Nabi Khokhar, Director of TB Control, Sindh, informed the meeting that the list of personnel to be trained immediately in Karachi, Larkana, Shikarpur and Jacobabad is being prepared and a training schedule has also been prepared for doctors, paramedics, laboratory technicians and lady health workers in these districts.

He maintained that teaching hospitals might be included in the list of TB diagnostic and treatment centres in view of certain modifications in the DOTS methodology.

Dr Khokhar also mentioned that the modest Chest OPD was already functioning in Civil Hospital, while the paediatrics department is also registering and treating around 300-400 new cases of tuberculosis every year.

The DG Health Services informed the meeting that in pursuance of a decision taken in the meeting held on Aug 15, under the chairmanship of the minister for health, Ahsan Ahmed, fees for sputum microscopy, X-ray and blood examination of TB patients have been waived off.

He informed that collaboration plans are also being worked out with the women’s health project.

Dr Ghulam Nabi Kazi, in this context, proposed that initially the towns of Keamari, Baldia, Saddar, Korangi, Bin Qasim and Gadap be taken up. In the latter two towns, he said that collaboration may be carried out with Hope and Baqai Medical University.

The meeting approved the selection of these six towns in the first instance. It may be mentioned that the Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases is catering to another five towns where the services will be made more patient-friendly by developing linkages with the communities.

It was also decided that personnel currently working in Civil Hospital, Services Hospital, Police Hospital, Ibrahim Hyderi Hospital, Korangi Hospital and health centres in Keamari, Baba Bhit and Baldia will be trained on an immediate basis, while the remaining institutions will be taken up later this year.

The meeting expressed its confidence that by the end of June 2002, around 70 per cent DOTS coverage will be achieved in Sindh, while the remaining 7 districts will be taken up in 2002-2003.

The meeting also decided to request the finance department to immediately re-validate funds lying in the PLA, so that the referral laboratory at Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases could be strengthened and other measures relating to the programme taken up without any delay.—APP