Raise awareness to prevent TB
Speakers tell media at roundtable
Staff Correspondent
Speakers at a roundtable yesterday called on the mass media to step up efforts to raise awareness among people about tuberculosis (TB). They also called for coordinated efforts between the government and non-government organisations to reduce the prevalence of the disease. The Shaptahik 2000 and Brac jointly organised the roundtable titled 'The present context of the fight against TB: The role of mass media' at the National Press Club. Presenting the keynote paper, Dr Mahfuza Rifat, programme specialist of Brac Health Programme, said around 50 percent of adult population are infected with TB and over three lakh people fall victim to the disease every year. Bangladesh ranks sixth on the list of 22 high burden countries in the world, she added. Reducing the prevalence of TB and the number of deaths from the disease by 2015 is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which can be achieved by reinforcing the awareness campaign through the media, she said. Dr Mahfuza also called on the print media to do detailed follow-up reporting on TB with emphasis on its treatment. Brig Gen (retd) Dr MA Malik, former adviser to the caretaker government, said poor people are more vulnerable to TB and it infects not only lungs but also other parts of human body. He urged the mass media to report on the importance of taking medicine regularly up to six months to prevent Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR) TB. Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, project coordinator of Gonoshasthya Nagar Hospital, pointed out that the prevalence of TB is severe among the poor because they migrate frequently from one place to another, thereby failing to continue their treatment. Terming TB a 'social disease', Prof Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique laid emphasis on the dissemination of information in proper way in order to prevent the disease. Dr Rashid-e-Mahbub, former president of Bangladesh Medical Association, GM Kader, former lawmaker of Jatiya Party, Dr Robaet Ferdous, assistant professor of Mass Communication and Journalism, University of Dhaka, Afsan Chowdhury, director of Brac Advocacy and Human Rights Unit, also spoke at the roundtable moderated by Golam Mortuza, acting editor of the Shaptahik 2000.
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