August 15, 2007	Wednesday	Sha’aban 1, 1428

RAWALPINDI, Aug 14: Pakistan is increasingly improving its pace towards the goal of halting and reversing the incidence of tuberculosis (TB), and has achieved global target of 70 per cent case detection rate (CDR) during the last quarter of the year.

If the pace of this rate continues, the country is likely to achieve the global target by 2015 as set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), an official of the National TB Control Programme said on Monday.

The official said since the revival of the National Programme in 2000, more than 600,000 patients had been registered for treatment, out of which 85 per cent had successfully completed their treatment.

On the basis of its performance, the programme has recently managed to secure grant worth $56 million from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and malaria.

It has also been hailed and commended by international donors for its success. On its part, the government allocated Rs126 million for the programme under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), he said.

About the burden of TB in the country, the official said Pakistan still ranked sixth among the 22 high burden countries with incidence of 181 per 100,000 population, while TB shared 5.1 per cent of the total national disease burden.

The federal government runs National TB Control Programme with its provincial departments in all four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Northern Areas ensuring free-of-cost diagnosis and treatment facilities at all public health centres under the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short Course) Strategy.

TB, a preventable and curable disease, is annually taking more than 66,000 lives in the country. The officials suggest that the disease can be controlled if prompt access is ensured to the nearest health facility upon appearance of symptoms. Diagnosis and treatment services, which are completely free of cost at all public health facilities if availed in time, could save life in eight months’ duration.

While recommending simple precautions, the official said by covering mouth, avoiding spitting everywhere and clean lifestyle for TB patients could help others remain safe from mycobacterium, the bacteria causing TB. However, the best prevention is the early diagnosis and treatment for TB patients.