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Tuesday March 19, 2024

‘People with active TB can infect 10 to 15 others’

By Our Correspondent
March 25, 2018

Islamabad : From community leaders and people affected with tuberculosis to civil society advocates, health workers, doctors or nurses, as well as nongovernmental organisations and other partners, all can act as leaders in their respective areas of work for building commitment to end TB.

This was the key take-home message disseminated at an awareness walk organised Thursday by the National Institute of Health, the National TB Control Programme and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Drawing on the theme ‘Wanted: Leaders for a TB-Free Pakistan,’ the walk was organized in connection with World TB Day, and was attended by students of the College of Medical Laboratories Technology (CMLT), senior officers of NIH, NTP, EPI and the Health Services Academy. Globally, 10.4 million people got infected with TB and 1.7 million died from the disease, while in Pakistan, 518,000 developed TB and only 69% of these were notified and put on treatment in 2016.

In addition to organising a walk, NIH also issued an advisory for the prevention and control of TB. The objectives of the advisory are to sensitise healthcare authorities to the need to strengthen TB control efforts; to find missing TB cases which are the transmission source of the disease in the community; and to improve the level of preparedness for control and prevention of TB at all levels.

TB is an air-borne infection. Its most common symptoms are cough for more than two weeks, low-grade fever, night sweats, and loss of appetite and weight. These nonspecific symptoms can lead to delays in seeking care and transmission of bacteria in the community.

“People with active TB can infect 10-15 other people through close contact over the course of a year. Once infected, the risk of developing the disease is high in children less than 5 years of age, adolescents, elderly, malnourished, immune-compromised, people having HIV, diabetes and renal failure, and smokers, if left untreated,” the advisory states while referring to high-risk populations. NIH has also advised the provincial and district governments and other stakeholders to adopt recommended measures for the control of TB.

Addressing the participants of the walk, the Executive Director of NIH Dr. Aamer Ikram termed TB as a serious public health concern. “Drug resistant TB cases are on rise in Pakistan. However, early diagnosis along with appropriate and complete treatment is the most effective way to prevent the disease. The government is providing free diagnostic and treatment facilities, which need to be coupled with awareness programmes to minimize the risk of the disease and stigma in the society,” he stated. The heaviest burden of TB is still carried by low-income and vulnerable groups such as women, children, older people, migrants, refugees, prisoners, ethnic minorities, miners and others working and living in risk-prone settings.