Pakistan strives to eliminate tuberculosis as a public health problem

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ISLAMABAD — The National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTCP) provides 90 percent of its treatment free of cost to poor patients, programme manager Dr Noor Ahmed Baloch said on August 31.

“The government is striving to reach 100 percent free treatment for TB patients,” he asserted. “TB is curable; all it needs is a complete treatment [effort] over an eight month period. Under a public and private partnership programme titled ‘Stop TB,’ 7,000 TB care centres are now being set up around the country to achieve this objective.” According to the NTCP, 44 percent of all TB patients in the Eastern Mediterranean Region are in Pakistan.

“With the help of the World Health Organization (WHO) an ambitious plan has been launched to control TB that envisages training local healthcare workers, providing free treatment and enhancing of public awareness,” Baloch said.

WHO statistics indicate that the incidence of sputum-positive TB cases in Pakistan is 80 per 100,000 each year. TB is responsible for 5.1 percent of the total national disease burden in Pakistan.

“The NTCP once arranged a programme in our neighborhood in Rawalpindi. I participated in it and learned about TB and the hospital where it can be diagnosed,” said Fareen, who just completed treatment and is now entirely healthy. “I can do all my household chores, I am feeling better and happy. Now I can advise other TB patients to start treatment.”

Baloch said that more than 5000 health centres are already operating in 56 districts, while Rural Health Units (RHU) are doing their best to deliver medical facilities to TB patients. “Because of the involvement of teachers, religious scholars, students and health workers on a larger scale, the government hopes it can achieve its target in TB reduction set under the Millennium Development Goals-2015.”

Advocacy, communication and social mobilisation are an integral part of all NTCP programmes that focus on improving case detection, treatment adherence, combating stigma and treating TB patients.

Dr Muhammad Tariq, technical advisor to NCTP said that the “overall objective of the NTCP programme is to reduce mortality, morbidity and disease transmission so that TB is no longer a public health issue.”