Controlling
TB
POVERTY breeds a lot
of diseases. Tuberculosis is one of them. Poverty being rampant in the South Asian region,
TB continues to infect a large section of the region’s population. How serious TB is
can be gauged by the fact that 38 per cent of the total TB patients in the world are South
Asians. Half of the adults are said to be infected and the disease kills 600,000 people
every year. That is a lot of deaths preventable by a simple medication. South Asia can
certainly do without this dubious distinction as the most fertile region in the world for
TB. It was against the background of havoc TB was creating in South Asia’s health
situation that the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation considered it a
priority to have a SAARC Tuberculosis Centre which is based in Kathmandu. The Governing
Board meeting of STC held on Tuesday heard of the TB’s tentacles in the region and
the efforts under way to control it.
It is indeed good
news that some of the endeavours have paid off. Nepal, where there are estimated to be
about 80,000 tuberculosis patients, is making progress in fighting the disease. It has
embraced the Directly Observed Treatment System (DOTS), considered the best method to
treat TB patients. Implemented in all the 75 districts, DOTS method is now covering 85 per
cent of the affected population. Ninety per cent of the newly detected TB cases have been
covered by DOTS. As Minister for Health Sarat Singh Bhandari informed the inaugural
function of the STC meeting DOTS in Nepal has achieved targets set by the World Health
Organisation ahead of time. Despite the DOTS success, the fact remains that controlling TB
remains a big challenge for Nepal. Every year thousands of new TB cases appear, half of
which are infectious. The battle against TB, thus, can only succeed with a massive health
education campaign which should go side by side with free diagnosis and treatment
services. Though the total success against such a disease in a country with very
inadequate health services and poor nutritional levels of people will be a long, long
battle, the disease can be progressively isolated with a combination of DOTS service
expansion and health education.
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