KARACHI, Jan 4: The World Health Organization (WHO)’s sub- office in Sindh, under its ongoing TB control programme, plans to make DOTS (directly-observed treatment strategy) more comprehensive by training the care-providers of NGOs working for eradication of the disease.

Dr Ghulam Nabi Kazi, WHO operations officer for Sindh who is also looking after the TB control programme, told APP that efforts were also being made to carry out mass awareness, educate general practitioners on the correct regimens and ensure better monitoring and supervision at the district level.

“The support from the development will be carried on till 2006 by which time TB service will be firmly entrenched in the general health services,” Dr Kazi said, adding that the TB control programme had been initiated in coordination with the Sindh government.

According to him, DOTS would also be used as an umbrella to integrate all primary health-care services.

Although Sindh has been declared the best province for population welfare services, the DOTS coverage has risen from eight per cent in 2000 to nearly 70 per cent and universal coverage is expected during the year 2003.

The WHO official particularly referred to the first policy statement made by Chief Minister Ali Mohammad Mahar, that drugs would be provided to all TB patients in the province free of charge.

The federal government has received anti-tuberculosis drugs from the Global Drug Facility.

National TB Control Programme Manager Dr Syed Karam Shah was stated to be urgently responding to the request of the director TB Control, Sindh, Dr Ghulam Nabi Khokhar for a complete course of drugs for 25,600 patients in the province during the current year.

Dr Kazi said that Sindh had also emerged as the first province to approve the PC-I of the basic development needs programme, which is under operation in taluka Sehwan of district Dadu in collaboration with the community and producing excellent results.

Operational research is also being carried out to determine the correlation of TB and poverty and to measure the positive impact of the BDN interventions, such as reducing poverty, improving literacy, enhancing routine immunization coverage, provision of potable water and sanitation on TB patients.

The WHO-sponsored TB control programme is also developing partnerships with an oil exploration company - Eni-Lasmo - and APWA in order to achieve its targets in a better way, Dr Kazi added.

He mentioned that a revised PC-I was also being prepared at a cost exceeding Rs10 million, out of which Rs3 million were expected to be borne by the government of Sindh till June 2006.

“The PC-I will carry out interventions in all the related sectors to improve quality of life and resultantly a better status for the population,” he added.

He said that the theme selected for World TB Day 2003 on March 24, 2003, would be “People with TB” and the slogan is “DOTS cured me - it will cure you too!.”

The theme has been chosen from over 100 entries submitted for consideration from many sources - health and community care workers, doctors, non-governmental organizations and others with interest in TB.

The theme stresses the need for addressing the people with TB by involving them as advocates for global TB control and supports case detection and DOTS expansion, one of the key objectives of the global plan to stop TB, using stakeholders to accelerate the action.—APP