BHAKTAPUR: The National Tuberculosis Centre is set to conduct an extensive national tuberculosis prevalence survey - the first of its kind, from January 2018.

Under this study that covers 55 districts across the country, situations of new and old tuberculosis (TB) patients would be studied, said NTC’s Director Dr Kedar Narsingh KC.

This will help figure out the number of new and old TB patients, their situations, and the rate of new patient addition every year, KC added.

“Training on pre-preparations for the study has been recently concluded. The survey will cover approximately 75,610 TB patients of the 55 targeted districts, which have been divided into 99 clusters for the purpose, by visiting their door-steps,” he said.

A pilot survey, as its part, will be carried out at Bhaktapur, Sindhuli, and Dolakha districts.

Although 44,000 new patients across the country have been added this year, only 2,557 have been registered, according to KC.

The government has launched various programmes with the aim to relieve the country of the disease by the year 2050.

According to the NTC’s Planning Chief Anil Thapa, approximately 44,000 new TB patients are added every year.

However, available data estimates the increasing rate to be approximately 58,000 to 60,000 patients annually.