The alarming proliferation of drugs in Pakistan has resulted in a troubling revelation of 341,619 patients diagnosed with Tuberculosis (TB) in 2022, according to an official document. Among these patients, a distressing statistic indicates that 5,886 individuals lost their lives despite receiving treatment.
The document categorizes drug-induced TB patients into two groups. In the first category, 5,511 out of 339,256 TB victims succumbed to the effects of drugs, constituting 2 percent of the total deaths. On a relatively positive note, 317,923 patients in this category managed to recover from drug-induced TB.
However, the situation becomes more perilous in the second category, where out of 2,363 drug-induced TB patients, 375 individuals lost their lives. The fatality rate in this dangerous category reached 16 percent, as per the document. Encouragingly, 1,560 patients from this high-risk category managed to recover.
Presently, there are 1,700 centers operating under the National TB Control Program in Pakistan. TB treatment is provided free of cost, and substantial financial resources are allocated to the National TB Control Program, emphasizing the gravity of the situation and the efforts to curb the dangerous spread of drug-induced TB in the country.