PESHAWAR: Health experts have warned the people suffering from tuberculosis to avoid shyness and focus on their regular treatment otherwise this curable disease can cause death in case of negligence.

These views were expressed by health experts at a seminar titled ‘United to End TB’ held in connection with the World TB Day at Peshawar Press Club on Friday. The speakers included Pakistan Chest Society (PCS) president Prof Dr Arshad Javed, general secretary Dr Sadia Ashraf, provincial chapter general secretary Shahid Afridi, central secretary information Dr Taj Mohammad and coordinator Khyber Pakhtunkhwa TB Control Programme Dost Mohammad.

They said that there was no doubt that TB was a serious disease, but it was curable. However, any kind of delay in treatment could lead to death. The patients taking regular medicines could easily recover from it. However, they said that effective management of the TB patient was only possible when the infected person contacted the relevant doctor for in time diagnosis and regular treatment for eight months without any break.

The experts said that the TB patients who hesitated to consult doctors not only put their own lives at stake, but also caused danger to healthy people of the society.

Seminar held to mark World TB Day

They said that the womenfolk were the major sufferers in this regard as they usually avoided getting their tests done due to some social problems.

Prof Javed urged the TB-stricken patients to shun carelessness during the course of treatment in order to save themselves from multiple drugs resistance (MDR). He said that a petty carelessness in taking dose could convert a minor disease into MDR, which, he said, was very dangerous and expensive to treat. He said that according to the World Health Organisation 96 million people suffered from the disease in 2014 worldwide.

Dr Taj said that about 50,000 patients were registered every year in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He said that 231 diagnostic and 810 treatment centres were working under the supervision of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa TB Control Programme with the facility of treatment short course, diagnosis and providing medicines to the patients free of cost.

He said that the stigma attached with TB needed to be removed, adding that media could play an effective role to create awareness among the people, especially in the remote areas so that the people could contact the TB centres for diagnosis and treatment without any hesitation. Dr Sadia Ashraf also spoke about the significance of timely treatment to overcome the disease.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2017