Tuberculosis: 5,736 tested positive

Monitoring Desk

JALALABAD: In total 5,736 people have been diagnosed Tuberculoses (TB) positive in eastern Nangarhar province last year, the Public Health Department (PHD) said.

In Nangarhar, 82 free TB treatment centers, including 15 special centers, exist. TB is a deadliest disease which claims lives of thousands of people in Afghanistan and the world annually.

PHD spokesman Inamullah Miakhel told Pajhwok Afghan News that 33,270 people were tested for TB last year and out of them 5,736 were positive.

In 2016, Miakhel said, 4,499 TB patients had been registered, with 17 losing their lives and another 125 evacuated to other treatment facilities and 4,356 were cured.

Dr. Latifullah Faqiri, anti-TB program director, said TB disease was primarily an airborne disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which are spread person-to-person through the air.

He said bacteria mainly affected the lungs, but might adversely affect other organs, advising people to avoid dirty air and separate eating tools for family members diagnosed with TB.

He stressed TB was treatable and there was 82 centres in Nangahar where free of cost treatment of TB was provided.

Faqiri warned a person diagnosed with TB could transfer the disease to 15 more people and his treatment could save them.

According to the Public Health Ministry, Afghanistan is among 22 countries where TB disease is widespread.