The Ministry of Health of Namibia launched a TB prevalence survey (TB-DPS) in the country on July 13, in the capital Windhoek.
The country's health Permanent Secretary, Andreas Mwoombola in a statement said the survey's aim is to measure the burden of TB disease in Namibia in order to identify ways to improve tuberculosis control and ultimately end the TB epidemic.
"The survey will be carried out in 68 areas around the country which were selected to provide a statistically representative sample of the whole country," he said.
Furthermore, the survey will involve teams being deployed to screen the Namibian population throughout the country.
Namibia's health ministry will work in collaboration with the other partners like World Health Organization, Namibia Statistics Agency, Institute of Pathology, USAID and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a national survey to measure the presence of TB in the population of the country.
Namibia remains among the top five countries in the world with the highest per capita TB disease burden (WHO report 2014).
Furthermore the report revealed that the number of TB cases diagnosed and treated in Namibia has maintained a downward trend from 16,156 cases in 2004 to 9,882 cases in 2014, representing a 39 percent decline during this period.
Source: Xinhua