ATTOCK, March 25: The city nazim Attock has expressed concern over the phenomenal rise in cases of Tuberculosis (TB) and urged the government to take strict measures to control it and ensure proper treatment of those infected with the deadly disease.

Rana Shaukat Ali Khan expressed these views while speaking at a rally, arranged by the district TB Association (DTA). The rally, in which a large number students, teachers, doctors, lawyers, social workers, religious and political figures participated, started from the Madni Chowk and ended at the Kutchery Chowk.

The nazim said the incidence of TB was increasing in the district due to a number of reasons. One was that the district lacked any hospital exclusively devoted to the treatment of TB. Another reason was the absence of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

Reports indicate a 30 per cent increase in the number of TB- infected patients at the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital Attock this year as compared to last year, he said.

Elaborating on the reasons for the spread of the disease in the district, he said one factor was the influx of a large number of Afghan refugees and their commercial activities.

They had established carpet weaving centres in residential areas exposing people to fumes from chemicals used in the dying process. These fumes were not only injurious to ones lungs but also caused bone damage.

There was no mechanism to dispose of the residual chemicals, which were left clogging drainage lines outside residential areas.

He said that in the far-flung areas of the district, TB had reached epidemic proportions due to poverty, an unhygienic lifestyle and the use of contaminated water for drinking purposes.

“The increase is really alarming,” he warned and blamed the local health authorities for not paying enough attention for treating patients and controlling the spread of the disease.

He pointed out that there was not a single TB hospital in the district. Nor were there any isolated wards at the DHQ hospital Attock or the five tehsil headquarters (THQ) hospitals.

Ironically, the only exclusive ward for TB at the DHQ hospital Attock was closed down without any rhyme or reason and was now being used as to store drugs by the health department, he deplored.

As a result, TB patients were being admitted to other wards of the hospital, posing a huge health risk to the other patients, who were needlessly being exposed to this deadly disease, he said.

Negligent behaviour has also been observed at other health care institutions in the district, including the THQ hospitals and rural health centres, he said.

Even an illiterate man knows that the TB infection spreads because of close contact with a TB patient, therefore, it imperative that the disease is treated in isolation, he stressed.