Daily Times

United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Pakistan organized a day-long workshop on the stakeholder consultation on the challenges affecting expansion of Tuberculosis and Malaria responses at the provincial level. The event was attended by senior officials from the Health Departments of the Government of Punjab, KP, Sindh and Balochistan. The participants from the provincial health departments presented their findings, challenges and recommendations specifically in the context of TB and malaria. Provincial Disaster Management Authority representatives from all the provinces were also present and gave presentations on the post flood situation in their respective provinces, said a press release by UNOPS. In Pakistan, a high burden of malarial disease has been reported in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Sindh. Over 30% of live in high-risk zones for malaria. The province of Punjab is also classified as a medium to low-risk region for malaria. Unfortunately Pakistan is ranked as 5th in the world for reporting high cases of TB, with an estimated incidence of 263/100,000. Annually, more than 580,000 cases appear, while over 44,000 people lose their lives to the disease. MultiDrug Resistant TB poses a great threat to our community with an estimated 27,000 cases reported per year.