KARACHI, April 21: Health experts at the concluding ceremony of an international conference on chest diseases stressed the need for public-private partnership for total elimination of tuberculosis (TB) from the country.
They called for the inclusion of general practitioners in controlling tuberculosis, urging DOTS strategy for TB control be implemented at their private clinics so that patients could be facilitated nearest to their homes, and practical steps be taken to also control asthma and allergies besides TB.
These demands were made in a joint declaration issued on the final day of a three-day international biennial conference on Tuberculosis and lung diseases, organised by the Pakistan Chest Society (PCS) at a local hotel here on Friday.
PCS General Secretary Dr Nasir Hussain presented the declaration at a news briefing here. Prof Sultan Abdullah, Dr Iqbal Pirzada and Dr Zafar Mehdi were also present.
On the occasion, an Interregional Consensus Group comprising Pakistan, India and Bangladesh was also formed. The group will work for controlling TB, asthma and allergies in these countries.
It will assist the PCS and the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Karachi in conducting researches on these diseases.
Experts said that in Pakistan about 50 million people were suffering from allergies and almost same situation was prevalent in India and Bangladesh.
Dr Nasir Hussain informed that participants from 11 foreign countries had pledged to take appropriate steps in their respective countries to control TB, asthma and allergy. He called for a ban on smoking and its effective implementation in these countries.
Dr Hussain said that recommendations of the conference would be sent to the government and a CD would be prepared in Urdu and English languages based on the presentation of the speakers of the moot, which would be later distributed free of cost to all general practitioners of the country.
Earlier, a dinner was hosted in the honour of the delegates. Former Sindh governor Moinuddin Haider was the chief guest on the occasion. He lauded the efforts of Dr Ashraf Sadiq, Dr Nasir Hussain and their team members for organising such an event.
The vice-chancellor of the DUHS, Prof Masood Hameed, said that his varsity would provide technical assistance to the experts working in research on these diseases.—PPI