Tuberculosis cases witness significant rise in Pakistan's Balochistan

Quetta, Dec 10 (IANS) Tuberculosis (TB) cases continue to rise in Balochistan, particularly in its prisons, with 16,000 to 18,000 cases being reported in the province so far this year, local media reported on Wednesday.

The Provincial Manager of the TB Control Programme, Balo­c­histan, Sher Afghan Raisani, shared the information while addressing a press conference. He said that tests of communicable and non-communicable diseases were carried out among 3,000 prisoners in 12 prisons of Balochistan, Pakistan's leading daily, Dawn, reported.

He said that 16,000 to 18,000 TB cases were reported in Balochistan in 2025. He said that the Department of Health of Balochistan, TB Control Pro­gramme, Department of Prisons, and DoPasi Foundation have initiated a coordinated health screening programme in 12 prisons of Balochistan.

Earlier in November, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Balochistan Assembly slammed the provincial Health Department over its continuous failure to act on orders about major financial irregularities, illegal purchase and missing medical supplies at Sandeman Provincial Hospital in Pakistan's Quetta.

The committee, presided over by PAC Chairman Asghar Ali Tareen, reviewed a special audit of Sandeman Provincial Hospital and several audit paras about the Health Department, Dawn reported.

Key findings included the illegal purchase of medicines valued at Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 30.02 million, missing drugs worth PKR 22.83 million and overpriced oxygen cylinders that caused a loss of PKR 1.34 million.

The audit revealed that the officials' records did not include stock registers and inspection reports. The Health Department stated that the company Health Tech Quetta was an authorised distributor of Frontier Dactrol Ltd, Peshawar and managed supply and payment. However, the committee found their reasoning unsatisfactory.

The PAC chairman said, "Eight months have passed since the PAC issued directives, yet there has been no result." Tareen stated, "The responsible officers must be identified, and if directives are ignored, an FIR should be filed and a report submitted to the committee."

Noorzai stressed that violations of the Balochistan Public Procurement Rules had taken place and expressed displeasure that no progress had been made despite an eight-month lapse. The committee ordered a comparative analysis between the prices of the concerned companies, warning of strict action if there were discrepancies.