Staff Reporter
Pakistan Chest Society President Prof. Nisar Ahmad Rao has said that as a result of global efforts against TB disease during the year 2000 to 2018, the lives of 58 million people suffering from this disease were saved. Addressing the doctors during a ceremony of plantation of saplings at Dow University subsidiary Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases to mark the World TB Day on Wednesday, he said “We lost 1.5 lac people worldwide due to TB, while ten million people were infected and the disease is still one of the top ten causes of deaths in the world. Professor Nisar Ahmad Rao, who is also the director of the OICD, said public awareness programs have been cancelled in connection with the World TBD due to the coronavirus crisis, but a limited amount of plantation has been done to create a better environment.
Attempts have been made to raise awareness so that our respiratory system is protected from any disease, he said, banners have been set up for public awareness throughout the Ojha campus and on this occasion Deputy Director OICD Dr Nadeem Ahmed, Dr. Mirza Saifullah Baig and others took part in plantation.
Prof Rao said that now Millions of people are being affected by this disease on an annual basis. The global target to eradicate this disease as an outbreak has been set at 2030. He said that efforts to eradicate TB in Pakistan have definitely resulted in a decline in the cases. But there is still much work to be done
According to the World Health Organization estimates, two hundred and fifty people suffer from TB annually in one lakh population in Pakistan, affecting an estimated 500,000 people annually. Due to lack of awareness about ten to fifteen people are affected from the infected patient, so Pakistan is still fifth in the list of 30 TB countries out of two hundred countries in the world. He said that measures are being taken to control TB nationally in Pakistan.
