Anna Cataldi for joint efforts to end suffering of TB
By Saad Saud

ISLAMABAD—The UN Ambassador of Peace and the Global Stop TB Partnership, Anna Cataldi has emphasized use of collective wisdom to end the misery and suffering of mankind due to fatal disease of Tuberculosis.
Talking to leading personalities from different walks of life here, Anna Cataldi said that TB is totally curable and preventable and the toll of suffering could be drastically reduced if partnerships are constituted among governments, media, private sector and civil society. Anna Cataldi who is the author of world's best seller "Letters from Sarajevo" on the occasion spoke of her role in spreading awareness around the world on Tuberculosis, a Global Emergency declared by World Health Organisation (WHO). She shared her thoughts on different issues with the audience and answered queries during informal interaction.
Earlier, while welcoming Anna Cataldi, National Manager of National TB Control Programme Dr Hassan Sadiq praised her role in TB control and commended her priority for Pakistan and its people. Secretary Health, Khushnood Lashari also spoke on the occasion and said that the government is according top priority to communicable disease control programmes especially TB.
He said that the public sector spending on TB control has now exceeded 1 billion rupees besides successfully mobilizing financial and technical resources from partners like The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and WHO. Dr Kashif Bile, the Country Representative of WHO while appreciating Cataldi said that her presence in Pakistan reflects the high interest of WHO in promoting better health in Pakistan.
It is relevant to mention that TB is a major public health challenge for the Government of Pakistan and Pakistan ranks 8th among the 22 high burden countries in the world. The National TB Control Programmes has successfully provided care to more 800,000 and is progressively moving towards attaining Millennium Development Goals set for TB.