LAHORE – The World Tuberculosis Day will be observed on March 24 and the Sheikh Zayed Hospital Department of Chest Diseases will organise a seminar in this regard at the main auditorium at 12pm. Senior professors will speak on the newer diagnostic facilities and possible means of controlling tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a contagious disease. Like the common cold, it spreads through the air. Only people who are sick with TB in their lungs are infectious. When someone’s immune system is weakened, the chances of becoming sick are greater. Overall, one third of the world’s population is currently infected with TB. People with HIV and TB infection are much more likely to develop TB.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that the largest number of new TB cases in 2008 occurred in the South-East Asia Region, which accounted for 35 percent of all cases occurring globally. In Pakistan, there are 0.3 million cases of active TB out of which 48,000 die every year. Despite these figures, TB is considered to be a curable disease.
