TB deaths 273, victims 7,096 in 8-yr in Chuadanga

UNB, Chuadanga :
People are getting attacked with tuberculosis (TB) increasingly in the district as no awareness campaign is being carried out there to prevent the infectious disease.
At present, TB is spreading in different areas of the district at high rate as most people have remained unaware about the disease for absence of campaign.
Health officials concerned said 273 people have died of TB while 7,096 have been affected by the disease from January, 2004 to June, 2012.
According to year-wise statistics, six people died of the disease in 2004, 34 in 2005, 40 in 2006, 27 in 2007, 45 in 2008, 39 in 2009, 28 in 2010, 38 in 2011 and 16 till June,2012.
Besides, some 6,407 patients have been cured of TB over the period after receiving treatment through DOTS (directly observed therapy, short-course) process, they said, adding that about 820 patients are now receiving treatment to recover from the disease.
Health Department and leading non-government organisation Brac are jointly working in the district to bring the disease under control.
Officials concerned of both organisations are collecting cough of people to detect TB and providing treatment facilities to those affected by the disease.
However, some TB patients alleged that their diseases could not be detected through medical tests.
Though such patients got recovery at the beginning through treatment, they died after several months as their diseases could not be detected.
A TB patient, Charmin Khatun, also a Class-VIII student of a local school, said she was diagnosed with TB at a health centre in Rajshahi despite the fact that she was not detected to have TB-positive through medical tests in Chuadanga.
Sushila Sarkar of the same village said her husband died of TB even after taking treatment.
Dr Ratan Kumar Singha, consultant of Chuadanga Chest Disease Hospital, said TB cannot be controlled in the district as the patients are ignorant of the disease and do not complete treatment course.
Echoing Dr Ratan, Civil Surgeon Dr Mizanur Rahman of Chuadanga attributed the rise in the number of TB patients in the district to the ignorance of the patients about the disease.
He, however, said the government is working wholeheartedly across the country to control TB.
Tk 26 lakh narcotic items bulldogged
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) destroyed seized smuggled narcotic substances worth Tk26 lakh by crushing them under bulldogger in the district town on Thursday.
The destroyed items include 7,000 bottles of Indian Phensidyl syrup and 15 kilogram hemp.
Those were seized from several parts of the district during separate drives from September to December last year.
The narcotic items were destroyed in a playground in the town at about 11:00 am in presence of Deputy Commissioner of Chuadanga Delwar Hossain, Chuadanga-6 BGB Director Lieutenant Colonel SM Maniruzzaman, Assistant Superintendent of Police Kamruzzaman and district Narcotics Control Department official Lakhia Khanam.