Health Minister Zahid Malek on Wednesday said the annual death toll from tuberculosis in Bangladesh has come down to 40,000, half the figure 10 years ago.

“Ten years ago, up to 80,000 people died of tuberculosis (TB) every year. This has now come down to 40,000,” he said at a workshop  on the government’s Community Right and Gender Action Plan 2021-23 for TB.

He said around 97 per cent of tuberculosis patients are getting well by taking medicines regularly.

He, however, said the death of 40,000 people by this disease is not a good sign during this era of health development. 

“It means more than 100 people died of tuberculosis a day while we remain concerned about one or two deaths by the Covid-19 virus. This is very alarming. Our all ministries will have to work unitedly to bring the figure to zero level,” he said.  

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He said TB is the 13th cause of death worldwide. Around one core people across the globe are infected with the disease. Nearly 15 lakh people die of TB worldwide every year.  This figure is really high.

“We have controlled many diseases in Bangladesh. We freed Bangladesh from polio, cholera and diarrhoea, and tetanus. We are working to control TB also.”   

Zahid  said, “The only good thing about this news is that now we can identify the number of people infected and their whereabouts because we can only treat the disease if we can trace it.”

Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) ABM Khurshid Alam chaired the programme while Swadhinata Chikitshak Parishad (SWACHIP) President Iqbal Arslan, DGHS additional secretary Ahmedul Kabir and TB-Leprosy Operation Plan Line Director Khurshid Alam, among others, spoke.