7, April 2005	Thursday	27 Safar 1426

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PESHAWAR, April 6: NWFP Governor Khalilur Rehman has said that the government has embarked upon a crash programme to combat tuberculosis (TB) menace and efforts are underway to ensure diagnosis and treatment of 100 per cent TB patients under the Dots strategy. Addressing a one-day symposium on TB, jointly arranged by the provincial government and the NWFP TB Association here on Monday, the governor expressed the need to further streamline awareness campaign amongst the masses to make it more purposeful and result oriented. In fact, he added, political leadership and decision makers should be involved in the campaign.

Implementation of the TB control programme in all the 24 districts of NWFP as well as in seven agencies of Fata, the Governor said, was really heartening and encouraging. He appreciated the provincial government for its decision to allow free sputum examination for the TB suspects and described it a bold step.

Talking about insufficient treatment facilities, the Governor said: “We must also admit that one of the major problems in treating patients of Tuberculosis is the shortage of expert doctors. In order to enable general physicians to treat their patients according to the given guidelines we will have to concentrate on training facilities”.

The governor said TB had been a cause of concern the world over because around two million people died of TB in 2000 and over eight million become prey to this disease every year. The most depressing aspect of the whole scenario, he added, was that the ratio of youth and adults suffering from the disease was much higher as compared to any other disease. According to reports, the governor said, TB infected people, both rich and poor alike, in under developed countries of the world.

Gravity of the problem, he remarked, could be judged from the fact that 22 countries accounted for 80 per cent of the global TB burden and nearly one percent of the world’s population was infected with TB every year. He said the WHO had already set a target to diagnose 70 per cent of TB patients and to achieve a cure rate of 80 per cent the world over. He thanked the WHO for its cooperation and active assistance in the struggle to minimise affects of TB in the country. He described the public-private practice of TB control programme in the province a big achievement.

NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah, in his address, said that the government believed in public-private partnership and would further strengthen this programme. The government, he said, had already achieved its targets and now a number of international and other donor organisations were in contact with the government to further strengthen its efforts against the menace.

Earlier Begum Zari Sarfaraz, Chairperson and Dr Saeed Al Majeed, Secretary of the NWFP Association said that their organisation was actively providing treatment facilities to TB patients with special focus on precautionary measures for the last about half a century. Their main focus, they said, was health education and they were trying their best to involve maximum number of people, both individually and collectively, to combat the disease.

The moot was also addressed by Manager National TB Programme Dr Syed Kamran Shah; Dr Arshad Javaid and Provincial Chief of TB Programme Dr Abdul Ghafoor.