PESHAWAR, July 23: There is no more any stigma attached to suffering from tuberculosis in the NWFP as the society has accepted it as a curable disease, suggests data on prevalence of the disease in the province.

The Provincial TB Control Programme, NWFP, is set to identify 37,000 TB patients by the end of 2,006, according to official sources. They told this correspondent that due to removal of the stigma attached to the disease, people were becoming more willing to register themselves or their ailing relatives.

They said that the number of registered TB patients was increasing every year since the registration plan was launched. “The upward movement is expected to continue till 2,015, an official of the Provincial TB Control Programme said.

Sharing official data, he said that 8,000 TB patients had been diagnosed in 2,002, 13,500 in 2,003, 17,500 in 2,004 and 24,500 in 2,005.

“The figure shows a gradual rise every year and this confirms a visible change in the masses’ attitude to TB,” he said.

“Gone are the days when the people avoided shaking hands with TB patients, sitting beside them and living with them under one roof,” a WHO representative for the Provincial TB Control Programme, Dr Latif said.

UET TEACHER: The Military Vehicles Research and Development Establishment, a division of the defence ministry, has accepted the proposal of a design of hydraulic telescope crane prepared by a University of Engineering and Technology lecturer, Mr Sadiq.