KOHAT: The eight tuberculosis diagnostic centres in Kohat received 340 cases, including nine untreatable multi-drug resistance (MDR) cases, in the first four months of 2019, with most of the patients coming from religious seminaries.

This was revealed by Safeer Mohammad, in-charge of the main diagnostic centre at the KDA teaching hospital, while talking to Dawn here on Wednesday. Last year, he said the number of reported cases was alarmingly 1,800 with 17 MDR, one extended drug-resistance (EXDR). He said the MDR and EXDR cases were very serious and most of the patients became either mad or died due to intake of high potency medicines.

Mr Safeer said he had so far identified 208 patients, whereas Liaquat Memorial Hospital had received about 100 cases. Similarly, the six diagnostic centres operating in basic health and rural health centres in Chor Lakki, Gumbat, Shakardarra, Ustarzai, Lachi, and Bilitang received 32 cases, he added.

He said 90 per cent cases were reported from seminaries where the students lived and studied at shared places and the virus spread quickly with coughing of only one patient.

Poor patients complain about stoppage of ration, cash

Meanwhile, a woman victim of MDR, Kifran Bibi of Bazidkhel, while talking to Dawn at the diagnostic centre, complained the serious cases were referred to Peshawar, but she was not paid a penny and home ration as had been promised by the government. She said the staff in Peshawar just gave her monthly medication.

The other patients also complained about harsh attitude of the staff because they belonged to poor families and demanded that they should be treated in Kohat instead of Peshawar.

When asked about the problem, Safeer Mohammad said earlier the TB control programme department gave convenience allowance, cash and monthly ration to the MDR and EXDR patients in Peshawar. He said such patients required two years treatment and it was necessary to provide them monthly food package so they should not mingle with people at shops or other public places.

The treatment period of other normal patients was six months and the recovery rate was 99 per cent if the victim took medicines regularly without break of even a single day, he said. The only encouraging aspect was that after use of medicines for two months regularly the disease was stopped from spreading, he added.

However, he said the provision of food package and cash had been stopped to patients for the last one and a half years. He said he had talked to the Peshawar office and discussed the issue with the head of the department who said the government was not providing funds to them therefore they were helpless in that regard. However, he said he had taken up the matter with high ups and hoped the grant would be released soon.

Mr Safeer also demanded a separate pulmonologist at the KDA diagnostic centre to check and help the patients. He said due to late diagnosis the disease could affect brain, bones, liver, lungs and all parts of body and then it became untreatable.

He said after the detection of the case the patient was asked to bring the whole family for check up to confirm whether anybody else was positive for tuberculosis, but lamented that in most cases the other members of the refused to be checked.

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2019