DESPITE being eliminated or drastically reduced in several high-income countries — largely due to the prevalence of advanced antibiotics and greater living standards — tuberculosis continues to remain one of the main causes of death in the developing world. An estimated 1.5m people die from the bacterial infection each year; TB is also one of the oldest recorded diseases in history. Pakistan has the fifth highest rate of TB in the world. It is estimated that around 430,000 people, including 15,000 children, contract the airborne illness in the country each year, while around 70,000 die from it. The germ is contracted by inhalation, through the throat and nose, or in rarer cases, ingestion. Symptoms can include a prolonged cough, coughing up blood, chest pain, shortness of breath, weight loss, fever, fatigue and night sweats. It is important to remember that the illness is both preventable and curable. However, while the BCG vaccine, usually administered to infants, does decrease chances of contracting TB, the amount of knowledge around the illness, and the media attention and public health awareness campaigns focusing on the illness remain much lower than for other diseases such as polio and HIV/AIDS.

In September this year, at a first of its kind event, world leaders met at the UN General Assembly to making tuberculosis a disease of the past. They pledged to increase overall global investments to $13bn annually by 2022. This week, the World Health Organisation has also extended its help to end tuberculosis in Pakistan and offered technical support to the Punjab TB Control Programme. Meanwhile, the National Health Services reaffirmed its commitment to ending tuberculosis by 2030 — one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. But it also revealed that a shocking 140,000 patients continue to be missed each year by routine surveillance. Another new challenge is the threat of multidrug-resistant TB, which occurs when patients stop taking their medication before their course has been completed. Lack of access to adequate healthcare services and pervading stigma prevent patients from getting the help they need.

Published in Dawn, December 8th, 2018