Uganda ranks among countries with high TB rate
Sixteenth out of the 22 countries with the highest burden of TB
With 102,000 new cases every year, Uganda is ranked sixteenth out of the 22 countries with the highest burden of tuberculosis (TB).
Dr Francis Adatu, National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Programmes Manager, disclosed that 45,546 new TB cases had been identified in Uganda by the end of last year (2010). Of these 545 were confirmed to be HIV positive.
He added that 330 out of 100,000 people get infected per year in every constituency. Out of 100,000 people infected by TB, 93 die and the number of deaths has been accelerated by HIV.
“TB is the single leading killer of people living with HIV. We must detect, treat and cure TB so that people living with HIV/AIDS can live longer,” he said.
He said TB’s effect on economically active Ugandans (aged 15-55) has affected the social and economic development of the country.
TB is an airborne disease that was discovered in 1882 and is caused by a germ known as mycobacterium tuberculosis. If not treated, TB kills in a period of two years.
Dr Adatu explained that 85 percent of the TB patients suffer from TB of the lungs and 15 percent succumb to TB of the borne.
He said there is lack of drug adherence in TB patients that has resulted in multi drug resistance, which is difficult and expensive to treat. A total of 226 patients are on the drug waiting list for second line TB treatment after developing multi drug resistance, while 870 new cases are waiting for TB drugs.
Dr Adatu made the comment as he addressed national TB stakeholders at Grand Imperial Hotel in Kampala on Friday (18 November, 2011).
Dr Adatu revealed it costs between 200 and 300 US dollars to treat one TB patient, while it costs 3000 US dollars to treat a patient with multi drug resistant TB.
In order to have a world free of TB, Dr Adatu said governments must allocate more resources to tackle the disease and empower people with TB and the communities in which they live to control the disease.
He said the Ugandan government only allocates 18 million Ugandan shillings for TB care and treatment,which is not enough to cater for the number of new cases arising.
However, he said Uganda’s priority now must be to halt TB incidence, reduce the TB prevalence rate and cut the number of TB related death in half by 2015. He said the government should be aiming t have the disease eliminated as public health problem by 2050.
Dr Adatu said there is a need to put TB affected people on effective treatment in order to control the disease and urged people to test for TB earlier so that they can avoid contracting it.
“If you cough for more than two weeks you should go to the hospital test and have the cough investigated so that you avoid to TB,” he added.
He said that there is low community awareness and participation about TB understaffing in the general health sector, which he said has affected the performance in TB control.
Peter Okubal, the Executive Director of Panos, said that TB has been ignored yet it has continued to affect the population and claim the lives of people.
Cathy Mwesigwa the Deputy of New Vision, said despite the availability of a cure for the past 50 years, two million people still die from TB every year because most do not understand TB and its consequences and misread the symptoms.
She urged stakeholders to use the media to disseminate information, especially where the aim is to effect action and policy change or to alter the public’s view of the issues surrounding TB.
Mwesigwa said the media have the platform necessary to put issues on the public agenda and have easy access to leaders and policymakers who can instigate action where other avenues have failed.
The meeting was organized by Panos Eastern Africa, an information and communication nongovernmental organization.
The Key Correspondents
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