TB control plan being accelerated FOZIA AZAM ISLAMABAD - The Ministry of Health has accelerated tuberculoses (TB) control programme with an overwhelming assistance of the foreign donors, including the World Health Organisation, which has contributed almost three quarters of the overall project cost of Rs 6 billion. Enhancing the momentum of the programme, especially in terms of awareness raising about the disease, which is now absolutely curable through consistence treatment, the Ministry high officials addressed a press conference along with the visiting UN Ambassador of Peace and Global Stop-TB Partnership Anna Cataladi. The representatives of the WHO's resident mission were also present on the occasion. The counterpart funds given by the government of Pakistan for the TB control programme amounts to Rs 1.6 billion while the rest is coming from the foreign financial assistance. Anna Cataladi, while addressing the conference, renewed the call for fighting TB. "It is time that we all get together and apply a collective wisdom to end the misery and suffering of millions of people from TB across the globe', she said. She said TB is a disease that is completely curable. She elaborated that treatment and cure are two different things. For instance HIV/AIDS could be treated but not cured. On the other hand TB is a disease, which could be treated even without hospitalisation, she maintained. The TB is an ancient disease having history thousands years back and so does the stigma attached with the disease as well, she added. Answering a question regarding the burden of the TB stigma on women folks is more than men, she said this disease is spread irrespective of boundaries and gender differentiation. Therefore, all the TB patients are stigmatised world over, she said. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Hassan Sadiq, National Health Manger of TB control programme informed that Pakistan ranks 8th among the 22nd high burden countries in the world. After reviving the National TB Control Programme in 2000 TB Dots programme was implemented in Pakistan on WHO recommendation. So far the programme has facilitated more than 800,000 and it is progressively moving towards attaining Millennium Development Goals set for TB. In Pakistan the case detection rate is 69 per cent whereas the standard criterion for indicating success of the programme is 70 per cent. Pakistan has 84 to 87 per cent successful treatment percentage, which is another big achievement, made by the programme. He said if a TB patient is not treated he or she could spread the disease to more 10 to 15 people so in a way by providing treatment 800,000 patients to we have saved 4 million people from TB. All over the country regarding the TB patient enrolment both male and female have equal percentage but in the NWFP and Baluchistan, 60 per cent female and 40 per cent male have registered, he informed.