ISLAMABAD, Nov 25 (APP): First Lady Samina Alvi on Friday said as Pakistan was ranked fifth among the Tuberculosis (TB) high-burden countries, it was necessary for all stakeholders and partners to make the disease an essential element of all primary healthcare and communicable disease control strategies and mechanisms.
The first lady, in her address at the “Tuberculosis Community Rights and Gender Advocacy Seminar”, said it was extremely saddening to learn that there were still 600,000 new TB cases emerging every year.
“48,000 lose their lives which means every single day we are losing 131 precious lives. Based on these statistics, Pakistan is ranked fifth among TB high-burden countries accounting for over 60% of the burden in WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region,” she remarked.
She expressed confidence that the Government of Pakistan would ensure its full commitment and determination to bring about a meaningful difference in the fight against TB.
The seminar was organized by DOPASI Foundation in cooperation with End TB Pakistan.
Samina Alvi told the audience that she has been leading the awareness campaign on Breast Cancer which unfortunately was considered a taboo in Pakistan a few years back and women affected by Breast Cancer felt guilt in coming forward or never even realized that they had it until it was too late.
“I am aware that TB has a similar stigma attached to it through my recent interactions with Dopasi Foundation and the Stop TB Partnership, Geneva who have supported in integrating Breast Cancer Module in the One Impact mobile platform for empowering and engaging affected communities,” she added.
The First Lady confirmed that there has been progress, adding, although, slow and steady – efforts channelized towards the cause have resulted in getting closer to achieving TB control targets, which was an encouraging sign for all of them who hold TB prevention and control close to their heart.
“It is, however, extremely saddening to learn that there are still 600,000 new TB cases emerging every year. 48,000 lose their lives which means every single day we are losing 131 precious lives, she remarked, adding, it clearly indicated that there was still space for more to be done in delivering healthcare services to a sizeable proportion of TB affected population.
“Although TB is a sad reality that continues to tarnish lives – it is to be acknowledged that it is not a problem that cannot be avoided. TB is a preventable and curable disease and the sooner we realize this the better,” she added.
Samina Alvi was of the view that the best possible protection against the disease was provided by the vaccine available for infants and children, adding, however, in certain circumstances, medication can also be used to prevent the disease.
“We must never forget the inordinately high costs in terms of human suffering borne by the marginalized in our society. TB can dissolve relationships, stigmatize women and render them as outcasts due to an eminently curable health problem,” she added.
The First Lady said that today’s event for her had highlighted that “TB does not affect everyone equally – it puts some of us more at risk than others.”
“Our friends have established through their CRG assessment that the ones most severely affected as evidence suggests are Key Vulnerable Populations like coal miners, prisoners, transgenders, adolescent girls and many more,” she added.
Furthermore, she stressed, the seminar had developed their understanding of how social and cultural barriers related to community, rights and gender can heavily influence TB risk, exposure and ability to access services.
“The recommended key actions can surely help us to overcome the CRG-related barriers prevailing in Pakistan, in line with the targets of the UN-High-Level Meeting of 2018 and our national commitment to End TB by 2030,” she added.
Parliamentary Secretary Health Dr. Shahzia Sobia Aslam Soomro said that Pakistan was targeting to bring the TB-related deaths down by 95% till 2023, adding, however, there was a need to adopt a people and community centric approach to achieve the target and completely eliminate TB.
Ms. Kinz ul Eman, Director Program DOPASI Foundation and Ms. Caoimhe Smyth, CRG Expert – Stop TB Partnership in their presentations on the occasion highlighted the objectives of the seminar, overview of the CRG Assessment as well as the key findings from the Rapid Assessment and the JPRM on CRG.
They told the audience that over 11,000 Lady Health Workers have been trained in Punjab to provide TB care, prevention and support effort.
Faysal Qureshi, screenwriter and actor in his capacity as End TB Goodwill Ambassador in his remarks on the occasion stressed that since Pakistan was among the few countries having high incidence of TB, there was a need of creating awareness about the disease through various means of communication.
Dr. Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director Stop TB Partnership in her virtual address highlighted the importance of strong partnerships among Civil Society Organizations as well as public and private sectors.
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