Islamabad: More than 93,600 children in Pakistan are estimated to be affected by tuberculosis (TB) every year, accounting for at least 14 percent of the country’s nearly 669,000 TB cases, prompting health authorities, international organizations and paediatric experts to initiate efforts for updating national childhood TB policies in line with the latest global guidelines.
Pakistan, which carries around 73 percent of the tuberculosis burden in the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region and ranks among the five most affected countries globally, is also witnessing thousands of preventable deaths from TB annually, with officials estimating around 51,000 deaths each year, over 1,800 new infections daily and nearly 140 deaths every day from the disease.
The concerns were highlighted during a two day national consultation on paediatric tuberculosis organized at the WHO Country Office in Islamabad by the Common Management Unit (CMU) for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria under the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and the Pakistan Paediatric Association.
The consultation focused on adapting Pakistan’s national TB policies according to the latest WHO recommendations aimed at improving early diagnosis, prevention and treatment of childhood tuberculosis, particularly among vulnerable and underserved populations.
Under the updated recommendations, experts reviewed shorter four month treatment regimens for drug sensitive TB, TB preventive therapy for exposed children, new all oral six to nine month regimens for drug resistant TB and decentralized family centred models of care designed to improve access to treatment and reduce delays in diagnosis.
TB Programme Manager at the CMU Dr Faisal Siraj said childhood tuberculosis had been identified as a major programmatic gap in Pakistan’s TB response following recommendations of the Joint Programme Review Mission 2025. He said the government was prioritizing integrated child focused interventions including standardized clinical diagnosis, household contact investigation and expansion of TB preventive therapy for children.
He said efforts were also underway to integrate TB services into primary healthcare and child health platforms while increasing engagement with private healthcare providers and strengthening surveillance systems to improve case detection, reporting and treatment outcomes. According to him, these measures would be incorporated into the upcoming National Strategic Plan to ensure sustained reductions in childhood TB burden in Pakistan.
Dr Florian Götzinger, National Implementer for MSF’s TACTiC initiative, said diagnosing TB in children remained particularly difficult because children often do not show clear laboratory confirmation despite being infected. He warned that children were more vulnerable to developing severe forms of the disease compared to adults.
He said MSF was supporting implementation of new WHO diagnostic algorithms to help doctors start treatment earlier even when laboratory tests were unavailable or inconclusive.
Globally, WHO estimates that around 1.2 million children developed tuberculosis in 2024, but many remained undiagnosed or received treatment too late, increasing the risk of severe illness and death.
WHO Deputy Representative in Pakistan Ellen Thom termed protection of children from TB a medical and moral responsibility, saying WHO would continue supporting Pakistan in expanding preventive care, early diagnosis and timely treatment for every child at risk of tuberculosis regardless of their social or economic background.
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