The Punjab government has declared the Tuberculosis (TB) as notifiable disease. All doctors, homeopaths, hakims and quacks would be bound to report TB patients to the Punjab Tuberculosis Control Program (PTCP) that would help weed out this deadly menace once for all. Punjab Minister for Primary & Secondary Health Khawaja Imran Nazir disclosed this while speaking at a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signing ceremony at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday. The MoU was signed between the LCCI and National/Provincial Tuberculosis Control Programme.
The memorandum is aimed at fighting against tuberculosis in Pakistan to reduce mortality, morbidity and spread of TB infection. Both organisations would strengthen programmatic and operational management capacity of the TB Control Program while enhancing support both from public and private sector.
Both institutions would device mechanism for free diagnoses/treatment of the worker's and contact screening their family referral from coupon. Capacity building/training of the doctor and paramedic of the industrial unit will also be organised. The minister said that MoU between the two organisations is a historic event. He said that private sector in general and the Lahore Chamber in particular had always played a crucial role and stood shoulder to shoulder with the government at all testing times. A number of reforms are being introduced in the Punjab Health Department, he said. Punjab government is implementing revamping plan of 40 DHQ and THQ hospitals for enhancing the treatment facilities and improving the performance of the hospitals that would be completed by the end of August 2017, he added.
On the LCCI president suggested the minister that issues of cigarette selling to the minors and LCCI role in Health Department's purchases would be considered seriously. He said that government would use all resources to eliminate TB from the country. LCCI would provide access to the Health Department to approximately two million industrial workers for screening of TB.
The PTCP provincial director Zarfshan briefed about the programme's objectives and said the industrial workers would be provided diagnostic, treatment and medicine facilities. "We would provide coupons to the Lahore Chamber for industrial workers and in case of symptoms related to TB like continuous coughing, fever, loss of weight and loss of appetite in any worker, he can contact with the programme for free diagnosis of the TB and its treatment, she said. She said that memorandum between the two organisations would make this program more effective and stronger.
The LCCI President Abdul Basit said that such initiative was need of the hour as Pakistan ranks 5th in the list of 22 countries with higher number of TB patients. It is estimated that around 50,000 people dies annually just because of this deadly disease. He said that lack of awareness and health facilities in the rural areas are giving severity to this disease.
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