Health ministry vows to eradicate TB by 2030.

ISLAMABAD -- While over 400,000 tuberculosis (TB) related cases are detected across the country on a yearly basis, the health ministry has vowed to end the disease in Pakistan by 2030.

In his message on World TB Day which is observed on the 24th of every March, the health minister said that a campaign led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been started to raise awareness about one of the most devastating infectious diseases still affecting communities.

'The goal of World TB Day is to highlight the worldwide commitment to eliminate TB and ensure equitable access to prevention, treatment, and care for this disease,' the statement by Abdul Qadir Patel said.

After Covid-19, TB is the second infectious killer in the world and the 13th largest cause of death overall, as per the statement.

'On this day, political and social commitment might be mobilised in order to accelerate efforts to reduce the burden of tuberculosis. We all firmly believe that if we want to advance towards a world where there are zero TB deaths, nobody should be left behind in the fight against TB,' he said.

'Around 4 million avoidable deaths still occur each year as a result of infectious diseases such as HIV, malaria, viral hepatitis, and TB... Accelerating efforts to lessen the burden of communicable diseases is a vital way to attain that aim as countries work towards universal health care. Countries with a high disease burden will struggle to achieve universal health coverage (UHC) without investing significantly more in the...

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