Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai District Health Directorate Calls On Stakeholders To Support Tuberculosis Programme

The Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai district in the western region has observed this year’s world Tuberculosis day. The event was organized at Bibiani Zongo community.

Background:
World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, annually held on March 24, marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch detected the cause of tuberculosis, the TB bacillus. It 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.

In 1996, the World Health Organization (WHO) joined the union and other organizations to promote World TB Day. The Stop TB Partnership, called the Stop TB Initiative at the time of its inception, was established in 1998. It is a network of organizations and countries fighting tuberculosis. WHO works with this partnership on to support the activities and events that take place on World Tuberculosis Day each year.

Keynote Address by the Honourable District Chief Executive

In his keynote address, Hon JacobWare commended the District Director of Health Services (DDHS) and his team for observing the day. He noted with great concern the importance of good health in the building of every nation. The DCE said he was committed to fighting diseases in the district. According to him, the district assembly has spent a lot of money in clearing refuse dumps that were posing ashazard to the health of people in the district. He again appealed to the youth to desist from small scale mining activities which has been attributed to cause TB in the Zongo Community.

Elaboration of Theme for the Event
The District Director of Health Services, Dr Nana Asampong Brobbey acknowledged that the day was a global day set aside by WHO to bring visibility to the condition as one which all segments of society need to come together to fight against; and possibly eradicate with good social health structures and a strengthened curative health system.

He emphasized that the global theme for the celebration was “Reach the 3 Million: Reach, Treat, Cure Everyone” and further explained that the theme was a carryover from 2014’s theme, which aims to reach, treat and cure the 3 million people afflicted with TB who do not get the needed care.

He hinted that TB was curable and its cost of treatment was free, regardless of whether the patient bears a national health insurance card. Even so, he advised that the audience should make every effort to register with the national health insurance authority since the costs of treating opportunistic infectionsaccompanying TB infection were not free.

Tuberculosis situation in Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai District

According to Doris Verome, the District TB Coordinator, who also doubles as District Disease Control Officerthere were 116, 109, 115, 113 and 112 TB cases reported for the 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 cohort years respectively. She revealed the mortality rate amongst TB patients had increased from 2.6 percent in 2012 to 10.6 percent in 2013. She lamented that Bibiani Old-town and Zongo communities ranked first in the district for TB cases, a situation she attributed to the unending small scale mining activities known as ‘galamesey’ in the two communities.

‘It is however not surprising that more males continue to get TB in Bibiani every year’, she added. She hinted that TB cases reported over the years in the district wererather passive ones – i.e. the patients voluntarily reported themselves to the health facility. She called on stakeholders at the gathering to help the district TB programme with financial and logistics support to enable health workers undertake active case search and contact tracing. She recognized the support of the Global Fund to the National TB control programme in the district.

Tuberculosis Disease
Dr Priscilla Buahin, a Senior Medical Officer at the Bibiani District Hospital outlined the cause of TB, signs and symptoms of TB, control and prevention of TB. She said that Tuberculosis was an infectious disease caused by a bacterium (known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis), which may affect any tissue of the body but is usually found in the lungs. Symptoms common to TB included coughing (which lasts for more than 2 weeks), chest pains, and production of blood-stained sputum, fever, fatigue, night sweats, loss of appetite, and loss of weight.

She revealed that even though TB was curable, it could be prevented through the following practices: getting BCG vaccination at infancy, eating a healthy balanced diet, cutting down alcohol consumption, stopping smoking (of cigarette and marijuana), avoiding sleeping in overcrowded rooms, regular hand washing with soap and running water and wearing protective personal equipment at the work especially amongst scale mining workers and hospital staff. She concluded by saying that TB was not ‘spiritual’ disease as purported by some people and therefore advised the gathering to seek early treatment when they cough for more than two weeks.

Concerns by Chief of Zongo Community.
Chief SulemanManasaira III who chaired the occasion in his closing remarks blamed the TB situation in his community on the operation of mining activities both by the Mensin Gold Mines Limited and the numerous small scale mining companies. He complained about dust produced by these companies in the community, which he said put them at risk of TB.

He used the occasion to call on the DCE, mining companies and other stakeholders to take up the responsibility of catering for the health needs of the community members. Chief Manaisara III recounted the number of youth and aged people who have died from TB in his community because they did not accept that they were suffering from TB when doctors told them so. He shared a success story of his son who was cured of TB in the past and therefore called on his people to support the TB control programme in the district. He concluded by thanking the DDHS for hosting the event in his community.