KARACHI, Dec 13: The theme, selected for the World TB Day 2003, falling on March 24, is ‘People with TB’ and the slogan adopted is DOTS cured me — it will cure you too!”

Health and community care workers, doctors, non-governmental organizations and other organizations and individuals having interest in crusade against TB, had submitted more than 100 entries for the purpose of selection.

The selected 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 Tuberculosis, using stakeholders to accelerate action. A publication with the same title was compiled and circulated recently.

It discusses extensively the action and resources required over the next five years to expand, adapt, and make more effective the implementation of DOTS strategy to control TB.

Prepared over the last two years, the global plan incorporates contributions from over 150 experts in TB control, public health and development around the world and has the backing of the WHO, World Bank and many other agencies involved in the Global Partnership to Stop TB.

The plan is mainly aimed at helping nations in meeting the 2005 global targets and putting the world on the road to the elimination of tuberculosis.

The plan is all the more pertinent in the case of Pakistan which ranks eight on the list of the 23 high-burden countries in the world. The federal ministry of health had declared tuberculosis as a ‘national emergency’ on March 24, 2001 and has been taking concrete measures to expand DOTS throughout the country to achieve the goal universal implementation by June 2005.

Pakistan has about 1.5 million TB patients with 250,000 more people contracting the disease every year. A high morbidity and mortality rate has been recorded.—APP