Staff Reporter :
About 70,000 people die while 348,400 are attacked by tuberculosis (TB) in Bangladesh every year, a study of the ICDDRB revealed this at a roundtable in the city on Thursday.
According to the study, around 184,507 people have been identified as TB patients in the country under the National Tuberculosis Control Programme in 2013.
It also estimated that around 53 lakh people have been living in different slums in the country. In every one lakh slum dwellers, 224 are TB patients.
Possibility of TB attack is quite higher among the people who are living in urban slums and other dirty places. However, rapid urbanization and arrival of growing number of people in cities in search of jobs has made it a main challenge in controlling the spread of tuberculosis, said speakers at the roundtable.
The roundtable on “National TB control programme: Urban area based activities” was jointly organised by the National TB Control Programme, Directorate General of Health Services, Daily Ittefaq and BRAC.
The speakers said, an estimated one lakh poor people arrive in different cities of the country every day in search of work, which contributes to the rise of urban poverty, dirty and unhealthy living environment in the slums and lack of adequate treatment. These have increased the risk of tuberculosis in the capital as well as other urban areas.
Dr Md Ahmed Hossain Khan, deputy director of MBDC and also programme manager of National TB Control Programme, presented the keynote paper on the topic.
Professor Dr Deen Md Nurul Haque, director general, DGHS, attended the function as the chief guest while Tasmima Hossain, acting editor, Daily Ittefaq, presided over the opening session.
Dr Md Quamrul Islam, director MBDC, also line director, TB-Leprosy, Mozaffar Hossain Paltu, senior vice-president, NATAB, Dr Md Akramul Islam, director, TB, Malaria, WASH and DECC programmes of BRAC and Ashish Saikat, managing editor, Dainik Ittefaq also spoke on the occasion.
Shagufta Sultana, senior programme manager, BRAC Advocacy for Social Change, gave the welcome speech while journalist and news presenter Asifur Rahman Sagar moderated the event.
Professor Deen Md Nurul Haque, in his speech, gave an account of the government’s success in different health programmes and said, ‘Effective involvement and commitment of all stakeholders, including the NGOs and media, is essential for the government health programmes to be successful.’
Close network between the community clinics and tertiary level medical facilities, including Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University is also essential in this regard, he added.
Dr Md Akramul Islam, director, TB, Malaria, WASH and DECC programmes of BRAC, said, ‘It’s true that rapid urbanisation is a big challenge in TB control but we cannot stop urbanisation. We have to think how urbanisation can be done in a planned way.
And to reduce TB infection, he said, not only the organisations associated to the BGMEA need to put effort for making their factory environment better, but other organisations should also work towards it’.
About 70,000 people die while 348,400 are attacked by tuberculosis (TB) in Bangladesh every year, a study of the ICDDRB revealed this at a roundtable in the city on Thursday.
According to the study, around 184,507 people have been identified as TB patients in the country under the National Tuberculosis Control Programme in 2013.
It also estimated that around 53 lakh people have been living in different slums in the country. In every one lakh slum dwellers, 224 are TB patients.
Possibility of TB attack is quite higher among the people who are living in urban slums and other dirty places. However, rapid urbanization and arrival of growing number of people in cities in search of jobs has made it a main challenge in controlling the spread of tuberculosis, said speakers at the roundtable.
The roundtable on “National TB control programme: Urban area based activities” was jointly organised by the National TB Control Programme, Directorate General of Health Services, Daily Ittefaq and BRAC.
The speakers said, an estimated one lakh poor people arrive in different cities of the country every day in search of work, which contributes to the rise of urban poverty, dirty and unhealthy living environment in the slums and lack of adequate treatment. These have increased the risk of tuberculosis in the capital as well as other urban areas.
Dr Md Ahmed Hossain Khan, deputy director of MBDC and also programme manager of National TB Control Programme, presented the keynote paper on the topic.
Professor Dr Deen Md Nurul Haque, director general, DGHS, attended the function as the chief guest while Tasmima Hossain, acting editor, Daily Ittefaq, presided over the opening session.
Dr Md Quamrul Islam, director MBDC, also line director, TB-Leprosy, Mozaffar Hossain Paltu, senior vice-president, NATAB, Dr Md Akramul Islam, director, TB, Malaria, WASH and DECC programmes of BRAC and Ashish Saikat, managing editor, Dainik Ittefaq also spoke on the occasion.
Shagufta Sultana, senior programme manager, BRAC Advocacy for Social Change, gave the welcome speech while journalist and news presenter Asifur Rahman Sagar moderated the event.
Professor Deen Md Nurul Haque, in his speech, gave an account of the government’s success in different health programmes and said, ‘Effective involvement and commitment of all stakeholders, including the NGOs and media, is essential for the government health programmes to be successful.’
Close network between the community clinics and tertiary level medical facilities, including Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University is also essential in this regard, he added.
Dr Md Akramul Islam, director, TB, Malaria, WASH and DECC programmes of BRAC, said, ‘It’s true that rapid urbanisation is a big challenge in TB control but we cannot stop urbanisation. We have to think how urbanisation can be done in a planned way.
And to reduce TB infection, he said, not only the organisations associated to the BGMEA need to put effort for making their factory environment better, but other organisations should also work towards it’.
