Ho
municipal health directorate has embarked on a campaign to raise tuberculosis
case detection rate to at least 90% by end of this year. According to the Municipal
Health Director, Dr Atsu Seake Kwawu last year they were able to detect 91
cases out of an expected 131 cases which was not encouraging to them. They have
therefore decided to move all out in the fight against the curable disease.
Speaking at the commemoration of
the World TB Day in Hoe yesterday on the theme, ‘Reaching the Missed TB cases,
the Untold Story of the Ghanaian TB Patient’, the municipal director encouraged
the public to seek early medical attention and the free treatment of the
disease when they begin to show signs of the disease. He also called on the
public to shun from discriminating against people with TB as it could result in
delayed health seeking.
Tuberculosis, or TB, is an
infectious bacterial disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most
commonly affects the lungs. It is transmitted from person to person via
droplets from the throat and lungs of people with the disease. World
Tuberculosis Day, annually held on March 24, marks the day in 1882 when Dr
Robert Koch detected the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. This was a
first step towards diagnosing and curing tuberculosis. World Tuberculosis Day
can be traced back to 1982, when the International Union Against Tuberculosis
and Lung Disease launched World TB Day on March 24 that year, to coincide with
the 100th anniversary of Dr Koch’s discovery.
The day was used to educate the
community on the disease and interactions were made to answer some questions
baffling the people. Madam Christiana Atachey,
the municipal disease control officer who facilitated the education, spoke on
how TB and HIV are interrelated. She said an HIV patient becomes prone to
tuberculosis as the immune system is damaged. A health screening was done for
the participants on HIV and TB.
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