Health experts at a views-sharing meeting here have said that the teachers could play vital role in creating awareness through motivating their students to eradicate the curable disease of tuberculosis (TB) permanently.National Anti-Tuberculosis Association of Bangladesh (NATAB) organised the upazila level meeting for the teachers on ‘Launching social movement in controlling tuberculosis’ at Kawnia Bilateral High School auditorium in Kawnia upazila town here on Sunday.With district NATAB member Hossain Abed Ali in the chair, Consultant of Kawnia Upazila Health Complex and tuberculosis expert Dr Md Ansar Ali attended as the meeting as the chief guest.Medical Officers of Kawnia Upazila Health Complex and tuberculosis experts Dr Md Aminul Islam and Dr Md Abu Kaiser took part in the meeting as the main resource persons.Coordinated by File Level Officer of NATAB Monwar Hossain, Headmaster of Kawnia Bilateral High School Tozammel Haque also addressed the meeting participated by 30 teachers of different educational institutions from all over Kawnia upazila.In their keynote presentations, Dr Aminul and Dr Kaiser elaborately narrated the reasons behind tuberculosis infection, its prevention, treatment process and available cost-free treatment facilities throughout the country.They discussed on symptoms of tuberculosis infection, multi drug resistant tuberculosis, extremely drug resistant tuberculosis and functioning of the digitised GeneXpert machine in diagnosing drug resistant tuberculosis and treatment process.They also narrated on micro-bacterial tuberculosis, anti- tuberculosis drug refampicin and examination process of sputum of suspected patients using computerized GeneXpert machine available at Tazhat Chest Disease Hospital laboratory in Rangpur city.In his speech, the chief guest discussed the latest government strategies for controlling tuberculosis and stressed for creating awareness to accelerate detection of tuberculosis patients to bring them under cost-free treatments facilities throughout the country.He called upon the teachers for creating adequate public awareness on quick cough test, preventive vaccines and full course intake of essential medicines for eradicating the curable disease of tuberculosis once and for all.He suggested the participating teachers for motivating tuberculosis patients to complete the full treatment dose without intervals adopting the cost- free Direct Observe Treatment Short Course methods and medicines to free the country the curable disease.-BSS, Rangpur
