Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said that tuberculosis is a more dangerous disease than coronavirus as more people die from this disease every year.
He said, ”About 40,000 people die of tuberculosis every year. And about eight and a half thousand people have died in the last one year due to coronavirus. Therefore, tuberculosis is a more dangerous disease than coronavirus.”
Zahid Maleque made the remark while speaking at the inaugural function of the year-long TB awareness program at the Radisson Blu Hotel in the capital on Tuesday (March 9) afternoon.
He also added that the pandemic has exposed the inherent weakness within our health sector.
”We invest less in health. It must increase. If you invest in this sector, you will get 10 times better service,” he added.
Director-General of the Department of Health, Prof. ABM Khurshid Alam said in the event, ”We want to eradicate TB from the country. But its complexity is increasing day by day. Tuberculosis infections, especially in the bones, intestines, uterus and surgical sites, have become extremely difficult to diagnose. Therefore, in order to control it, it is important to diagnose and prevent surgical tuberculosis.”
