PESHAWAR, March 19: Health experts have said that prevention of tuberculosis is still a big challenge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the number of patients has increased during the last one year in the province.

Addressing at a press conference here on Tuesday, Dr Obaid Hussain, the project director of Provincial TB Control Programme, said that they had so far registered 200 new cases during the last year.

Nearly 300 patients were already being treated through a major multi-drug resistant (MDR) treatment facility at Lady Reading Hospital, he said. He added that the facility would also be extended to Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad soon to help the patients.

Referring to a report of World Health Organisation, Dr Obaid said that around 1,500 people suffered from MDR tuberculosis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa annually.

He said that they had set a target to upgrade facilities at public and private sector hospitals to prevent 80 per cent MDR tuberculosis by 2015 in the province.

Accompanied by Dr Yousaf, Dr Maqsood Ali, Dr Mohammad Dost and other health experts, Dr Obaid said that MDR diagnostic facility was also set up at Hayatabad Medical Complex to reduce the growing number of tuberculosis patients in the province.

About the performance of TB Control Programme, he said that more than 35,848 patients were registered during the last year and out of them 94 per cent were treated successfully through diagnostic centres.

Dr Obaid said that treatment of more than 293,166 patients was completed from 2002 to 2012 in the province. He said that 228 diagnostic and 810 treatment centres were established in the province to provide free treatment and checkup facilities to patients.

He said that Pakistan stood fifth in the list of countries infected by tuberculosis. He said that TB Control Programme was expanded through public-private partnership to reach to maximum patients.

Dr Obaid said that a special programme would be launched in the province to create awareness among people about tuberculosis that was a preventable disease.