Combating TB: speakers for awareness through media, academicians

Speakers at a seminar here Tuesday underlined the need for public awareness through media and academicians to combat Tuberculosis in the country. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Zabeeh Ullah Khan said that TB is a curable disease and could be treated through consistent and regular treatment.
He said one third population of the world has been suffering from this fatal disease and an estimated nine million people fall victim of it annually. In Pakistan, he said, the situation needed special attention of Government on war-footing basis as 300,000 persons become its victims annually.
TB has different types including lungs, brains, bones, kidney and hearts, saying lungs TB often proves much fatal. He advised TB patients for taking eight months' treatment to get rid of it. He said people with coughing for regular three weeks should approach hospitals or anti-TB centers for medical test. To create awareness among masses, Dr Zabeeh Ullah Khan said the government has taken numerous measures for education and awareness of masses and treatment of TB patients. Tuberculosis is still a major public health problem in Third-World Countries and one of the leading causes of adult mortality and preventable deaths.
He said Provincial TB Control Programme is the only preventive programme of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa that has achieved its defined targets. During the last decade, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa TB Control Programme has been the front-runner in DOTS implementation and has guided National TB Control Programme in strategic policy and implementation areas. The other speakers called for inclusion of private practitioners, who formed major portion of physicians in Tuberculosis control programme to defeat this ailment.