Number of TB patients up by 20pc in Herat, Ghazni

HERAT/GHAZNI (Pajhwok): Health officials on Monday said the number of people suffering from Tuberculosis increased by 20 percent in 2015 compared to 2014 in weste Herat province.

Dr. Nazir Ahmad Rahmani, the urban section in charge of the anti-TB campaign at the public health department, expressed these views at a ceremony marking the World Tuberculosis Day here.

He said a total 37,000 people, including 3,000 in Herat, suffered from TB countrywide last year.

He said TB patients in Heart had been registered and provided with complete treatment.

Rahmani said the number of TB patients stood at 2,400 in Herat in 2014 and their current number showed a 20 percent increase.

According to Dr. Rahmani, 98 percent of these patients were able to recover despite an unprecedented increase in their number.

Mehdi Hadid, a member of the provincial council, said fight against TB and spreading awareness in this regard was common responsibility of every citizen.

Also on Monday, health officials in southe Ghanzi province the number of TB patients had increased by 20 percent in the province.

Ghazni Public Health director Zia Gul Asfandi told a gathering here that people’s cooperation with the govement in controlling the disease was vital. “We can do away with the disease if people cooperate with us,” she said. However, she did not explain the cooperation.

Asfandi said people suffering from Tuberculosis in remote parts could not come to the provincial capital, Ghazni City, for treatment and the public health department was trying to establish TB treatment centres in far-off areas.

TB Hospital director Dr. Shafiqullah Shafaq said 200 TB cases were diagnosed in the province last year, compared to 245 cases this year.

“We provide free of cost treatment to TB patients in our hospital. Such patients in remote areas should come to our hospital,” he said.

nh/ma