Target TB working in partnership with Tamir Welfare Organisation in Pakistan

Country/regional profile

Pakistan has a population of over 150 million. Despite a rapidly expanding economy there still remain high levels of poverty, especially among women in rural areas. Around 300,000 people in Pakistan develop TB every year and the World Health Organisation ranks Pakistan as 8th in the world for the highest burden of TB.

Target TB is working in Faisalabad, north-east Pakistan, one of the country's most populated cities. A growing manufacturing industry in the district has triggered rapid migration from rural areas leading to the emergence of large unofficial settlements and slums in the city. Poverty and a lack of basic health services in these areas increase vulnerability to infectious diseases such as TB.

Lady health workers are being trained in TB control and use drama as a popular means of spreading information about TB

Lady health workers are being trained
in TB control and use drama as a
popular means of spreading
information about TB

Our work with Tamir

Target TB is working with Tamir Welfare Organisation, a local NGO, to improve TB control in low income areas of Faisalabad, Pakistan. Together we are working to promote awareness about TB and to help address the human resource shortages and knowledge gaps within the existing National TB Programme.

Project Aims

The project aims to improve access to TB health services and raise awareness in the urban slums and rural areas of Faisalabad, Pakistan, by training local health workers in TB control and and carrying out comprehensive health education programmes. 

Project Activities

  • Training 500 health workers and volunteers from 50 private and public health institutions in TB management to increase TB identification and and provision of DOTS treatment support.
  • Carrying out outreach activities in rural areas where communities have difficulty reaching health services and helping people to access to tests and treatment.
  • Raising awareness about TB by holding health education workshops in schools and amongst village leaders and by distributing informational materials in local languages. Audio visual equipment is also used to show films about TB and HIV which has proved highly effective.