KARACHI, Nov 30: The incidence of tuberculosis among school- going children is low as compared to adults, because of the administration of BCG vaccination at birth, a health survey report says.

The survey was conducted by Dr Hayee Saeed, chairman of the mass-miniature radiography (MMR) committee — a voluntary programme - of the Pakistan Anti-Tuberculosis Association.

Giving a brief of the survey at a medical camp-cum-workshop in Mohammedi Ali Colony, Mauripur Road, in Keamari Town, Dr Saeed said the MMR examination of 6,765 children from 19 schools showed that the incident of tuberculosis was .05 per cent, which meant that one child was suffering from TB amongst 200 children.

On the other hand, he said, the incident of TB amongst 14,996 adults working in factories, pharmaceutical firms, banks and hospitals was 2 per cent.

Low incident of tuberculosis, he said, was due to BCG vaccination at birth, as 70 per cent of children were found to be BCG-vaccinated.

The MMR committee chief recommended that BCG vaccination at birth should be carried out more vigorously as, according to him, it was reported in Germany that it also gave protection against asthma in addition to TB.

The committee has completed the mass-miniature radiography of 237 children — 185 boys and 52 girls — in Gulshan-i-Yasmeen Children Academy, Mohammedi Colony, which was the 19th school in the series and it has examined 6,765 children so far. The target is examination of 50,000 children.

Both boys and girls in the age group of 5 to 15 years were examined.

The investigation had been carried out to detect “chest disease including TB and study of environment of lung health” at an early stage.

The programme was carried out with a special X-ray unit fitted in a van with a generator and other facilities to develop X-ray film rolls.

The van visited the school, where the films were documented and examined by specialists. The investigation showed that the children did not produce any sputum for detection of TB.

The workshop was organized by the Concern for Children, an NGO working to provide health care facilities and health education to children.

Earlier, Uzma Mirza of the NGO briefed the audience about the programme. The workshop recommended that pollution should be controlled by removing smoke-emitting vehicles from roads and the city government should introduce an urban forest department to plant and protect trees, as trees emit oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide and reduce air pollution.

It also suggested that for every one square mile inhabited area, there should be one park and a playground and that high-rise residential buildings should be restricted to four storeys only.