PESHAWAR: Detection rate of TB patients has been showing improvement in the province owing to enhanced awareness campaign aimed at doing away with social taboos associated with the ailment.

“Misconceptions that medicines for treatment of TB cause infertility, the disease spreads through handshake and sharing meal or utensils, towel and bathroom have been receding due to extensive campaign on the community level and in schools, colleges and universities,” Dr Maqsood Ali Khan, project director of TB Control Programme in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told Dawn.

He said that they had planned seminars in universities in Mardan, Kohat and Haripur districts as part of the drive to end social taboos associated with the ailment and spread a message across that it could spread only through sneezing or coughing in open air and that the patients should cover their mouth while sneezing or coughing. He said that people in remote areas who were earlier hesitant to seek treatment were now visiting health facilities.

Official says measures being taken to convince patients to seek treatment

“It can transmit from a positive patient in the first month during which the disease is infective,” Dr Khan said.

He said that clothes and linen used by patients should be put under sun after washing once a week and people should use ventilated rooms to stay safe from the infection. He said that there had been increase in detection rate in the past two years as they had recorded 43,000 patients in 2016 which soared to 45,000 in 2017 while the current year would see spike in detection rate.

“We aim to increase detection rate from 60 per cent to 80 per cent by 2020, 90 per cent by 2025 and 95 per cent by 2030 for which we have started multiple measures to convince the people to seek treatment. We must brush aside the wrong impression that it is a hereditary disease and transmitted from parents to children,” he said.

The Provincial TB Control Programme’s project director said that in order to achieve the goals they had been enlisting support of the people, political leaders, private hospitals, physicians, and education and other government departments along with ensuring that diagnostic and treatment services were available in every district.

Also, the focus remains on the community to scale up public information regarding mode of transmission and ways for its prevention, Dr Khan said, adding that the patients needed six-month treatment for complete recovery, but those who discontinued treatment were subjected to medication for additional two months.

He said that installation of new machines on the district level had helped the health department to improve quality of diagnosis and cure. He said that private sector catered to 30 per cent of the patients.

The project director said that for the first time private hospitals and clinics had been offering free services in Dagbani Gardens, a hub of private medical practitioners in Peshawar, and near Lady Reading Hospital and in Nowshera and Swabi districts to the patients.

He said that mode of collaboration with private medics in Dera Ismail Khan, Chitral and Dir had also been finalised. He said that the health department had been pursuing a programme to bring changes in attitudes of the private sector and patients. He said that installation of modern equipment had been helping in prompt diagnosis and treatment due to which the public satisfaction level had increased.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2018