Nepal Observes World TB Day with Renewed Commitment to Eradicate Tuberculosis

Bhaktapur. Various awareness programs were held across different parts of the country to observe World Tuberculosis Day under the slogan, 'Yes! We will end tuberculosis: National Campaign, Our Contribution'.

Dr. Bhuvan Paudel, Director of the National Tuberculosis Center, informed that the day was observed with a commitment from everyone to fulfill their responsibilities in their respective areas to achieve the goal of ending the tuberculosis epidemic by 2035 and making the country TB-free by 2050.

Stating that 42 percent of TB patients in the country are still outside of treatment, he mentioned that most patients hide the disease, avoid testing, and there is a tendency for the disease to spread through them. He also noted that problems in testing persist due to the inability to utilize technology. Providing information that 39,151 new cases of drug-sensitive tuberculosis were identified in the fiscal year 2081/82, he stated that 39 percent of them were women, 61 percent were men, and 5.6 percent were children under 15 years of age.

Informing that the government has been operating tuberculosis treatment services in 6,241 health institutions for TB control, he stated that sputum microscopy services are being operated free of cost in 785 institutions and rapid testing services in 142 institutions.

He further informed that 31 centers and 98 sub-centers are operating for the treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis, the 'TB-Free Nepal Campaign' has been expanded to 149 local levels, and tuberculosis testing is being conducted using nine AI-equipped digital X-rays.

He shared World Health Organization statistics indicating that there are 10.7 million active tuberculosis cases worldwide every year, resulting in 1.23 million deaths due to tuberculosis.