45000 People Died In TB Diseases Every Year: Balochistan Health Minister Syed Ehsan Shah

Balochistan Health Minister Syed Ehsan Shah on Wednesday said that at least 45,000 people died due to Tuberculosis (TB) diseases every year in Pakistan

QUETTA, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Mar, 2023 ) :Balochistan Health Minister Syed Ehsan Shah on Wednesday said that at least 45,000 people died due to Tuberculosis (TB) diseases every year in Pakistan.

Timely and complete identification of potential TB patients is the only solution to control and eliminate this disease. People should immediately get free medical examination from the nearest center when symptoms of TB appear and get regular treatment after diagnosis of TB, he added.

He expressed these views while addressing a seminar organized at Boy Scouts Headquarters under the auspices of TB Control Program Balochistan, Mercy Corps and other donors regarding World TB Day. Secretary Health Saleh Muhammad Nasir, DG Health Dr. Noor Qazi attended the event.

Provincial TB Control Program Manager Dr. Asif Shahwani, WHO Pakistan Head Dr. Pulithamahi Pala, Mercy Corps Dr. Saeedullah Khan, Dupassi Foundation's Kanzul Eman Dr. Mukhtiar Zehri, Dr. Sherafghan Raisani, TB Control Program Provincial Project Manager Dr. Irfan Raisani, Dr. Bilal Khan, Dr. Maqbool Ahmed, Dr. Shereen Khan and others also spoke at the ceremony.

Health Minister Syed Ehsan Shah said that for better monitoring of the TB program at the district level, the appointment of a District TB Officer has been implemented in each district.

Training courses will be conducted for talented workers, doctors and paramedics of the province to expand operational research, he noted.

He said that all district headquarters hospitals of the province were being shifted to the solar system so that TB diagnosis was not disrupted saying that the Oxygen plant was being installed in 8 hospitals at the divisional level.

He said that about 2000 lady health workers have been trained for the referral system of TB disease which would help in the diagnosis of TB disease.

The Minister said that due to the efforts of Dr. Asif Shahwani, Head of TB Control Program Balochistan and his team, over 14,000 people in Balochistan were diagnosed with TB last year, free medical facilities were provided to them He said that the mortality rate of TB in Pakistan was 8 percent every year more than 45 thousand TB patients lose their lives in the country.

Secretary Health Saleh Mohammad Nasir, DG Health Dr. Noor Qazi, Manager of Provincial TB Control Program Dr. Asif Shahwani, WHO Pakistan Head Dr. Pleithamahipala, Mercy Corps Dr. Saeedullah Khan while speaking said that World TB Day was celebrated every year, it was observed globally on March 24, which reminded us of the day in 1882 when the German scientist Dr. Robert Kock discovered the germ that causes TB.

They said that the purpose of celebrating this day was to create awareness among the people about the disease of TB, to present the annual performance report and to inform about the measures to be taken regarding the treatment and prevention of TB in the new year.

The speakers said that to ensure the eradication of TB disease, it was important to stop its further spread because a TB patient could transmit the TB germ to 10 to 15 people in a year.

Therefore, early detection of TB patients and proper treatment of them is the only and sure way to prevent it, they mentionedThey said that with the cooperation of the institutions working in the government and private sector, about 255 PPM has been ensured to provide free treatment to TB patients to private doctors in 14 districts of the province.

Gene Expert TB diagnostic machines have been provided to 45 centers in different districts to develop modern practices in health institutions, they added.