6,000 died of TB last yr

More than 2 lakh people were diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) and at least 6,000 died of TB in the country last year, officials at the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) told a press conference in the capital yesterday.

A total of 206,919 people and 8,103 children were diagnosed and treated with TB last year, they added.

The death figure might be 80,000 a year as thousands of others remain undetected and/or unreported, said the officials while addressing the conference ahead of World TB Day which will be observed in the country and beyond today to raise awareness among the people.

World Health Organization (WHO) will observe the day with the theme "Unite to End TB."

Dr Abdul Hamid Salim, adviser to NTP, said the most of the TB cases could be detected in Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj thanks to a relatively greater awareness among the people than among those of other areas. While early diagnosis, proper hygiene and uninterrupted treatment can cure the deadly disease, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), which requires more expensive treatment and longer time to heal, develops when a patient leaves off treatment halfway through, observed the officials.Dr Mojibur Rahman, NTP consultant, said, "The NTP has achieved 85 percent treatment success since 2003, and successfully treated about 94 percent of the new smear positive cases registered in 2014." He, however, said it could be a bit of a challenge bringing down TB to zero in Bangladesh and also in the world, but the success rate was still encouraging here.