Tb research in Pakistan

Pakistan with its big population of more than 180 million people ranks number 4 of countries with highest burden of TB. The DOTS strategy for controlling TB is countrywide since 2005. Pakistan has a large private sector with some collaboration with the NTP, but most of themdo not. Pakistan NTP notifies every year over 250,000 new cases and over 10,000 retreatment cases, whereas the estimated incidence is over 400,000 cases. In Pakistan there is an estimated 3.4% of MDR cases among all TB patients (WHO 2012). The prevalence of HIV among adults 15-49 yrs is estimated to be 0.1% (WHO 2011), and is mostly in specific groups, like intravenous drug users.

 A national prevalence survey was conducted in Pakistan in 2010-11, the largest prevalence survey in the WHO EMRO region ever, with sample size of 133,000 individuals in 95 clusters across the country. The TB prevalence was found to be higher than the official estimates,and exact figures will be available in Oct 2013.  (Report downloadable at:http://www.tbcare1.org/ ). Dr Razia Fatima at Pakistan NTP is working on this and she is also linked to a PhD program in Bergen, and complements the prevalence study with additional studies on the burden of TB in Pakistan.

PhD students

Ongoing studies

Razia Fatima. Research topic: Assessing the burden of unrecognised TB in Pakistan

Completed PhD

Nauman Safdar (2011). PhD Thesis: Childhood TB case management in Pakistan: Addressing a priority.

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