Comprehensive initiatives needed to eradicate TB: Experts
BSS
Health experts have focused on taking comprehensive initiatives to make Bangladesh free from the burden of tuberculosis (TB) as the country is still reeling from the disease, reports BSS.
Alongside building a strong partnership with non-government actors, the government should strengthen its TB control programme and ensure universal health coverage to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target, they told a programme at the BRAC centre in the capital on Tuesday.
Directorate General of Health Service (DGHS), National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP), Bangladesh Health Reporters Forum and BRAC, a non-government organisation, jointly organised the roundtable on Future Strategy of Bangladesh TB Control Programme to meet the SDG targets.
Additional Director General (Planning and Development) of DGHS Prof Dr AHM Anayet Hossain, Programme Manager-TB of NTP Dr Md Ashraf Uddin, director of TB, Malaria and WASH Programme of BRAC Akramul Islam and Senior TB Advisor of USAID Charles Lerman, among others, addressed the programme with Line Director-TB and Leprosy of NTP Dr Shahid Md Sadiqul Islam in the chair.
National Programme Coordinator of NTP Dr Md Mojibur Rahman presented the keynote paper at the roundtable.
Despite achieving a remarkable success in detection and treatment of tuberculosis (TB), the health experts said, it is still a major public health problem in Bangladesh as the number of TB notified patients stood nearly 1,80,000 in 2014.
