ISLAMABAD, July 12: The deadly combination of Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS, and the threat of Multi Drug Resistance (MDR- TB) as a result of poor treatment have posed formidable challenge to Pakistan, a study said.
The study conducted by the National Tuberculosis Control Programme, Ministry of Health, said: “TB is to AIDS as a match is to tinder”. AIDS patients, it added, frequently developed TB as their first infection, and in some cases, they also acquired MDR- TB.
It said TB was killing 60,000 people out of 250,000 new patients registered every year in Pakistan. The disease, it said, would continue to be a menace in the country till the fight against it received support from all sections of the society.
All over the world, poverty, unemployment, poor living and working conditions and malnutrition have helped spread the disease.
The government had declared TB a national emergency in March 2001 in the “Islamabad declaration,” in which the national tuberculosis programme was asked to implement WHO’s recommended strategy against TB through DOTS (directly observed treatment short course) strategy.
About 50 per cent districts in the country have been covered by TB-DOTS, which means that people in these areas have access to free TB treatment and drugs. The programme focuses not only on the fight against TB, but also on many other related problems like ignorance, illiteracy, poverty, lack of doctors, medicines, funds, absence of coordinated efforts in the public sector and participation of the private sector.
The study said TB was a barometer of social change. It increases when living conditions deteriorate and vice versa. It said the disease was the greatest single infectious cause of death among young people and adults in the world, and accounted for two to three million deaths a year globally. One-third of the world’s population harbours the infection.
It said, every year, eight million people acquired TB worldwide. Still, it is a curable disease if diagnosed in time. The disease has been one of the major health problems in Pakistan, and since TB of the lungs (Pulmonary TB) is contagious, more people are likely to acquire it.
This huge number of infected individuals means that TB will continue to be a major problem in the future.
The best way to prevent it is to make sure that existing TB patients are cured.
The study said TB was characterized by cough lasting three weeks or more, and diagnosed by Sputum Microscopy. There were other symptoms and signs, but cough was the most significant.