Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis on the roof of the world.

Setting: The Shimshal Valley, a remote village in Northern Pakistan, is one of the seven Pamirs of Central Asia, widely known as the roof of the world.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) in the Shimshal Valley.

Design: The Rapid Village Survey Method (RVS) was used to investigate the prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis.

Iodine content in drinking water not an important determinant of endemic goitre.

The prevalence of goitre was determined in several communities in rural parts of Pahang. Urine specimens were collected randomly among the participants. Drinking water from various sources such as river and spring, and water from gravity feed systems was also collected to determine the iodine content by using the ashing method.