RAJESH MISHRA

DOHA

HEALTH authorities in Qatar have some cause for concern. The latest Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA) report on the health sector warns of a serious situation where the number of tuberculosis cases reported and registered in Qatar has gone up sharply even as the number of physicians specialising in its treatment is declining fast in government hospitals.

According to the QSA report, while as many as 580 cases of tuberculosis were reported in 2010 against 339 in 2006, the number of TB and infectious diseases practitioners in government hospitals has gone down from six to four between 2006 and 2010.

Strangely, the figures point out that there was a sudden increase in the number of TB and infectious diseases specialists from seven in 2008 to 11 in 2009 followed by an abrupt fall to just four in 2010. The report, however, points out that the number of reported TB cases among Qataris almost halved during the period, falling from 31 in 2006 to 17 in 2010.

The number of Indian and Pakistani TB patients also fell from 167 and 25 in 2009 to 119 and 19 respectively in 2010. However, the number of Nepali TB patients shot up from 95 in 2006 to 236 in 2010, the report reveals.

The report further says that of the 580 registered cases in 2010, 236 were Nepali nationals followed by 119 Indians, 26 Bangladeshis, 19 Pakistanis and 18 Qataris. Besides, there were four Egyptians, two each Iranians and Somalians, one from Saudi Arabia and 119 other nationalities.