DOW University organizes awareness Walk and Seminar on The TB DAY

Lahore : There is an approximate figure of around one lac, twenty one thousand patients who are suffering from Tuberculosis but do not prefer to go through its treatment. Such an act makes their disease more resistant infecting other healthy people in their surroundings.

Pakistan TB Control Program foresees that the number of TB patients is going to accelerate by 91% by 2020. Thus the vision to start this TB Control Program is to decrease the number of people who have TB and are not going through proper treatment.

Within this period, the number of patients developing cancer through Multi Drug Resistant Tuberculosis will be minimized by at least 5%. Last year, there were 72 thousand TB patients who were cured in different hospitals of Sindh.

Abdul Khaliq Domki, Additional Director TB Control Program Sindh said giving his address speech at TB Awareness Seminar on World TB Day, organized by Dow University of Health Sciences at Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases.

The seminar was attended by the Pro Vice Chancellor Dow University of Health Sciences, Dr. Mohammad Masroor, Director Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, Nisar Ahmed Rao, Deputy Director Dr. Nadeem, Dr. Ismat Ara and others. Abdul Khaliq Domki, Director Sindh TB Control Program, said that Tuberculosis is not only a danger for the patient who are suffering but also for the society.

TB is a contagious disease, thus, it has to be controlled. Our mission is to get rid of this contagious disease TB in Pakistan. We also have to focus upon control the deaths occurring from this devastating disease.

The Pro Vice Chancellor of Dow University, Prof. Mohammad Masroor said that every year there emerges 268 new types of cancers per lac of population while there are 73 types of cancers that have already been discovered.

Similarly, there is 341 persistent TB patients rate every year. Despite of the provision of free TB treatment by the Government of Pakistan, people are ignoring this hazardous disease.

He further said that the theme for this public awareness program on TB Day is to seek leaders for a TB free World and stop TB. A TB Leader is every person affected by or active in TB and willing and daring to speak up and engage to end TB through their work and personal engagement.

A TB patient’s treatment can sum up to 6.5 lac rupees to 10 lac rupees approximately.

Last year, Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases and its OPDs at different constituent institutions have examine a figure of 1 lac 14 thousand and 36 TB patients out of which 41 thousand and 36 were the cases of new cancers.

During this time period, 3.5 thousand patients were admitted in the hospital. The Deputy Director Ojha Dr. Nadeem said that the laboratory of Ojha Institute of Chest diseases is considered as the provincial reference laboratory.

The seminar was started with TB Awareness Walk from Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases and ended at the Dow International Medical College. The Pro Vice Chancellor DUHS, Prof. Mohammad Masroor led the walk in which the attendees were holding banners and play cards to raise public awareness to stop TB.