Bangladesh still lags behind in TB patient detection

FE Report | March 24, 2019 00:00:00

Bangladesh still lags behind in detecting tuberculosis (TB) patients against the target set by World Health Organisation (WHO).

WHO set the target to detect all 3,64,000 cases of TB in 2018. But the country has been able to detect a total of 2,67,276 people as TB patients. In 2017, the detection was 2,42,000 with 33 per cent "missing cases."

Among those detected in 2018, 11, 352 TB cases were of children.

Mortality rate was 45 per cent per 1,00,000 in 2017. The rate reduced to 36 per cent in 2018. These statistics were revealed at a press conference held Saturday at National Press Club in the city. It was organised jointly by National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, BRAC and other partners marking World Tuberculosis Day 2019.

The press conference was organised to share the experiences and discuss the future plans and strategies to tackle the spread of tuberculosis and make Bangladesh free from this infectious disease. The theme for this year's TB day is "Its Time".

Professor Dr Md Shamiul Islam, Line Director of NTCP was present as the chief guest. The main presentation was made by Dr Nazis Arefin Saki, the focal person of the DR-TB (Drug Resistant TB), NTP.

Experts identified rapid urbanisation, migration of the working people, insufficient availability of GeneXpert machine, lack of awareness among the population, superstition and social stigma as the main reasons for "missing cases."

According to the Global Tuberculosis Report 2018 (GTR), there are currently 1240 multi-drug (MDR-TB) TB patients in Bangladesh. Every year 221 people out of 100,000 get infected by TB and the number of deaths among them is 32.

To eradicate this deadly disease it is very important to broaden the increased availability of GeneXpert machines besides public awareness, experts noted. Dr Shamiul Islam said that the government is dedicated to bring down the mortality rate to 95 per cent and incidence rate to 90 per cent by 2035 compared to 2015.

To attain this target BRAC and other partners are working diligently with the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP).

Dr. Md. Akramul Islam, the Director of Communicable Diseases and WASH, pointed out the importance of the awareness among the TB patients and the regular and timely intake of prescribed medicines for proper treatment of the disease. [email protected]