More than a thousand people were infected with tuberculosis in Afghanistan’s Kandahar in the last six months, TOLO News reported.
TOLO News is an Afghan news channel broadcasting from Kabul.
The province’s health officials said children, women, and the elderly are among those afflicted by the disease.
Head of the tuberculosis section in Kandahar’s Public Health Department, Jamaluddin Azimi, said, “In the last six months, we had approximately 1,160 tuberculosis patients, which has decreased by six and a half per cent compared to last year, and overall, the level of the disease among women is higher.”
Further, according to officials, lack of treatment is the main reason behind the spread of tuberculosis.
A resident of Zabul province’s Shahjoy district, Khan Mohammad, said he has been in treatment for several months.
“It has been 12 months since I was in treatment, but it did not benefit me. When I came here to the Doctors Without Borders centre, I was treated, and the doctors said that I will get well,” said Khan Mohammad, as per TOLO News.
“I came here, the doctors treated me and helped me with everything, and now I am fine,” said Abdul Ahad, a Helmand resident.
Presently, 75 people suffering from tuberculosis are being treated at the Doctors Without Borders Hospital in Kandahar, most of whom are women and children, reported TOLO News.
Deputy of the Doctors Without Borders Centre in Kandahar, Mujeeb Rahman, said, “In the last six months, we have newly diagnosed and registered 415 people with tuberculosis in the Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar and Sarpouzeh Prison.”
Cough, fever, and weight loss are the main symptoms of tuberculosis.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), many in Afghanistan die every year from tuberculosis.
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