BSS, Dhaka :
Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Professor Dr Deen Muhammad Nurul Haque said the detection rate of Tuberculosis (TB) among children is 3.37 per cent.
“The problem in detecting tuberculosis among infants and children still remains the main challenge in treating the infection in children and the rate of TB detection in the country is only 3.37 per cent,” he said.
He said this on Wednesday while speaking as the chief guest at a roundtable meeting jointly organised by The National TB Control Programme (NTP) under the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the English daily Financial Express and BRAC at the BRAC Centre.
“According to the WHO, the child TB patients are almost 10 per cent of the total TB patients in Bangladesh, he added.’Despite the difficulties in detecting child TB, the government is undertaking effective efforts in this regard,” he added.
Divisional consultant (Dhaka) of NTP, Dr Ahmed Parvez Zabeen presented the keynote paper.
NTP line director Dr Mozammel Haq, NTP national programme consultant Dr Mojibur Rahman,BRAC officers were present with planning editor of Financial Express Shamsul Huq Zahid in the chair.
Out-of-order X-ray machines in many Upazila health complexes, lack of contact history of infection, want of modern detection device GeneXpert machines, lack of awareness, and inadequate healthcare services are the major causes that make child TB detection difficult in the country.
