PESHAWAR, Dec 2: The World Health Organization is concerned about the overcrowded condition in the quake-hit areas which, it fears, may lead to a surge in the number of tuberculosis patients. WHO’s officials have said that the disease may spread because of the freezing condition in the region.

“Given the prevalent situation, we have launched a mid-term programme to ensure that the treatment of registered TB patients goes uninterrupted,” the officials added.

Talking to Dawn on Friday, they said that destruction of 80 per cent of health facilities in the quake zone had posed a challenge to the UN and health department.

With most health outlets flattened or severely damaged, fears are being expressed that registered TB patients in the affected areas might suffer.

“TB patients require treatment for eight consecutive months. Any break in treatment can cause multi-drug resistant TB, which often kills patients,” the officials said.

Given the sensitivity of the situation, some 33 diagnostic centres had been established in tents in the quake-stricken districts to provide uninterrupted diagnostic and treatment facilities to the patients, they said.

There is no record of new TB patients at present but their number may be higher than reported before the quake, they added.

The centres have been set up in Shangla, Battagram, Mansehra, Garhi Habibullah and Balakot, they said.

The situation can turn worse as winter has already set in, with rain and snowfall making life harsh for people in the calamity-hit areas. On account of this, the number of patients can swell, they said.

“We are in the process of establishing more centres in the five affected districts. Some 33 centres — 17 in Mansehra, five each in Battagram and Abbottabad and six in Shangla – have already been established,” they added.

“We had over 2,000 registered TB patients in the five quake-hit districts even before the tragedy struck,” the officials said, adding that diagnostic facilities were being offered free of charge.

In addition to the support provided by the WHO, the provincial TB control programme has supplied surplus drugs in a bid to ensure free treatment of old and new patients.

They said overcrowded, unhygienic living conditions, malnutrition, resource constraints and stress in tents were causative agents of TB, all of which were prevalent in the affected areas.

“Winter itself is the key factor behind rise in the number of TB cases,” they said, adding that people desperately needed winterized tents to avoid winter freeze.

They asked patients to contact executive district officer (EDO) for any problem with regard to their treatment.

Citing WHO’s estimates according to which TB remains present in developing countries with a ratio of 177/100,000 persons, they asked people to contact tent centres or the EDO health in their areas in case they have coughs, sneezing, fever, sputum and sweating.