March 09, 2008	Sunday	Safar 30, 1429

MUZAFFARGARH, March 8: There are around 30,000 patients of tuberculosis (TB) in the district and 20 of such patients die every year, participants of an awareness workshop organised by the Pakistan Anti-TB Association (PATA) were informed here on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Riaz Malik, a deputy district officer (DDO) for health, said an addition of around 5,000 TB patients was being registered every year, showing rapid prevalence of this disease in this southern Punjab district.

He said the disease was curable and its treatment course spanned eight months of regular and continuous medication. Dr Riaz said the patients taking good care of themselves and taking medicines on time could recover even in a shorter span of time.

He said the diseases could be diagnosed by examining the patient’s saliva and contamination of blood in it was a stronger indication that he or she was infected with tuberculosis.

He said the government had set up 17 diagnostic centres in the district out of which 13 were in rural health centres and four at tehsil headquarter hospitals.

He said men were most vulnerable to this disease which spread because of certain bacteria that could be communicated to others through respiration, making the recipient infected too. PATA social mobiliser Islam Ahsan said the National TB Control Programme had begun in 35 districts, and Muzaffargarh was one of the districts in which the programme kicked off in the first phase around three to four years ago.

He said the media should disseminate awareness among the masses about the disease, and the government should provide the patients every possible facility to overcome this fatal disease. Dr Sadiq Sohrani, another health DDO, also spoke on the occasion.