1,800 Baghlanis contracted TB last year, says official

PUL-I-KHUMRI (Pajhwok): Nearly 1,800 people have contracted tuberculosis (TB), with 11 of the patients, including seven women, losing their lives, in northern Baghlan province, the Public Health Department said on Sunday.

Public health official Dr. Ghulam Mohiuddin Hamayooni told Pajhwok Afghan News 1,784 people, including women, contracted TB last year.

He called TB a contagious and deadly disease. About 11 people, including women, died and the treatment of the remaining patients had been completed 97 percent, he added.

According to World Health Organization, about 76,000 people are affected by TB in Afghanistan annually and 53,000 are treated every year.

hz/mud