Modern treatment of tuberculosis (TB) has begun in the district with introduction of a new machine for checkup of the disease. People affected with TB may get cent percent recovery from the infectious disease through checkup with the jean expert machine installed in the Pabna TB Clinic, reports UNB. Besides the patients in the district, others from outside can also test MDR TB free of cost through the machine. The above information was revealed at a view-exchange meeting styled ‘Role of journalists in raising mass awareness about control of TB’ held at the VIP auditorium of Pabna Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday. Dr II Rasul, general secretary of Bangladesh National Tuberculosis Control Committee district unit, presided over the meeting while Pabna Press Club president Shibjit Nug was present as the chief guest. Dr Mohammad Khalilur Rahman, consultant of Pabna Chest Disease Hospital, presented a keynote paper. Dr Khalilur informed the meeting that treatment of multi drug resistance or MDR TB started in Pabna Chest Disease Hospital on March, 3013. Quoting a survey, he said about 88 lakh people are attacked with tuberculosis and 20 lakh people die of the disease in the world every year. In Bangladesh, about three lakh people are affected by the disease while about 70,000 people die of it, he added. Seven people afflicted with MDR TB are now under treatment in the hospital, a treatment facility first in the country, he said further. Four of the patients are from Pabna and one each from Narail, Khulna and Sirajganj. Terming MDR TB a most complex disease, he said to cure a patient of such disease $0.5m is needed as medical expenditure. But Pabna TB clinic provides the service for free. Tuberculosis is an infectious disease and it may be fully cured through dot treatment, he said further. Sihbjit Nug said tuberculosis is a disease which can be cured through proper medical treatment. Organiser of the meeting, Nazrul Islam, said a total of 65,948 TB suspects were found in the country in the last three years and 5,624 of them were confirmed to have the disease. Some 23,609 TB suspects were found in 2012 alone and among them 1,246 were found to be certainly affected by the disease. At least 54 people died of tuberculosis in the district in the last three years, he added. Except the nine upazila health complexes of Pabna, the TB patients are being examined and treated in six more places at community level under the National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP). These are: Autapara in Ishwardi upazila, Dublia in sadar upazila, Handial in Chatmohor upazila, Kashinathpur in Sathia upazila, Rajnarayanpur in Bera upazila and Talimnagar in Sujanagar upazila.
Thursday, March 27, 2025
