KARACHI, March 17: The World TB Day will be observed across the country with the theme ‘Action for Life towards a World Free of Tuberculosis’ on March 24. The theme holds particular relevance to developing countries including Pakistan where 98 per cent of all TB cases are registered.
In particular context to Pakistan, despite the inception of the DOTS strategy across the country, the detection of TB cases has not gone above 35 per cent against the target of minimum 75 per cent.
TB cases of smear positive currently stands at 1/1000, the physicians said while talking to the APP mentioning that these are the cases, which are extremely infectious and hold high chances to be contracted by healthy individuals.
They regretted that TB, which is treatable as well as curable, continued to inflict locals at a very young age – as young as 18 to 19 years – due to delayed diagnosis - again despite simple and cost effective assessment facilities.
Pakistan with identified TB cases of 139,605 is currently offering Direct Observation Treatment Strategy (DOTS) at all its public sector health care facilities.
LYARI GENERAL HOSPITAL: The chest diseases department of the Lyari General Hospital has chalked out an elaborate scientific programme for March 24 to observe the international TB day.
Dr I H Burki, Head of the department, giving details of the event, said senior experts from across the country would be attending the symposium and discussing issues extremely relevant to Pakistan.
Topics to be deliberated upon will range from multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, new approaches to cancer therapy, different aspects of thoracic surgery, asthma, COPD and so-forth.
The Sindh Health Secretary, Prof Naushad Shaikh, will open the moot. Prof Masood Hameed, Vice Chancellor of the Dow University of Health Sciences will be the chief guest.
Experts to speak at the symposium will include Dr Shamshad Rasool Awan (King Edward Medical College), Dr Kamran Cheema (Services Hospital - Lahore), Dr Zafar Hussein Iqbal (Allama Medical College - Lahore), Dr Zafar Ali Syed (Nishter Medical College - Multan), Dr Sultan Abdullah (Punjab Medical College - Faisalabad), Dr Amir Bilal (Khyber Medical College - Peshawar), Dr Nadeem Rizvi (JPMC), Dr Mussavir Ansari (Liaquat National Hospital), Dr Salamat (Abbasi Shaheed Hospital).
Different sessions of the programme will be attended by faculty members of different medical colleges and universities of Karachi as well as other health care professionals, Dr Burki said.—APP
