President Dr Arif Alvi Tuesday stressed upon continuation of strenuous efforts to efface the debilitating disease of tuberculosis (TB), as the country was at an advantageous edge, gleaned from the valuable experiences in containing the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pakistan was successful in its drive against polio and due to relentless efforts coupled with public awareness, only a single polio case was detected last year, he added. The president was speaking at the “End TB Summit” organized by Stop TB Partnership, DOPASI and Parliamentary Committee on the National Health Services.
The summit focused on bringing together global expertise through a shared vision to end TB by 2030. President Alvi said about 350,000 TB related cases had been detected across the country on yearly basis, which required further collective efforts by all the stakeholders, partners and civil society. He said different cases were left untraced due to social taboos, which often forced the affected people to conceal their illness.
