Sierra Leone: 12,943 TB cases recorded in the country
Programme manager for the National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Control Programme NLTCP in the Ministry of Health and Sanitation has confirmed to Concord Times that 12,943 cases of tuberculosis TB infections were recorded in different parts of the country last year.
Giving a breakdown of the record, Dr. Alie H. Wurie said 3,535 cases were reported between January and March 2011; 3,041 cases between April and June and 3,458 from July to September. In the last quarter of 2011, the programme manager noted that 2,909 cases were reported.
According to Dr. Wurie, his office was able to get such a figure because more TB test centres have been opened in recent years unlike during the 80s when there were only three hospitals in the country - Lakka Hospital, Masanga Hospital in Tonkolili District and Staco Hospital in Makeni - for people to know their TB status.
"Today, we have 160 centres with trained and qualified staff including community stakeholders all over the country where people go to be tested for TB," Dr. Wurie said.
He noted that outreach programmes organized by his office to make people get proper understanding of the disease all over the country are also responsible for the massive report of TB cases.
"It is not easy but we are going to put more effort to make sure that people are properly educated about the diseases," Dr. wurie added noting that all reported TB patients are getting free treatment countrywide. "We have enough drugs to treat them," he said.
The Incidence of tuberculosis (per 100,000 people) in Sierra Leone was last reported at 682.00 in 2010, according to a World Bank report released in 2011. It says the burden of tuberculosis is increasing in Sierra Leone. Between 2004 and 2007, the number of registered TB cases in the country almost doubled, in spite of a case detection rate of 52% (the WHO target is 75%). This is further complicated by the recent emergence of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB). The TB/HIV co-infection is also an issue of concern: the prevalence rate TB/HIV co-infection is 11.6%. However, the defaulter rate has been declining and the treatment success rate has increased from 83% in 2004 to 87% in 2008.
allAfrica.com
