Zambia is joins ‘’the global’’ of eliminating TB by 2020
(Top picture Dr Mubanga below picture Dr David Singini)
By BILKE MULENGA
The Zambian Government through the Ministry of Health is
making strides to work with all stakeholders to join the global goal of
eliminating tuberculosis TB by the year 2030.
In an interview ahead of TB Day in Lusaka, National
TB/Leprosy Programme Manager Angel Mubanga says TB drugs are free in all
Government health facilities, adding that TB is curable once the patient
completes the prescribed treatment.
He says the Government has realized that some people die
from TB because they have a mirth that TB is incurable, while others believe
that TB can only be treated by traditional healers as it is being caused by
being cursed or after bewitched as such they do not seek to avoid modern
treatment.
Dr Mubanga said in view of eliminating TB in Zambia the
Government has embarked on what it is termed as, Matching Towards, Finding
45,000 People With TB and put them on treatment in order to achieve the goal of
eliminating TB by 2030.
He said that people
at risk of contracting TB are in two categories which include those with low
immunity and those who work in dusty places.
The category of low immunity are people with chronic
illnesses or underline conditions such as diabetic, people living with HIV,
those on cancer treatments such as chemotherapy patients and chronic kidney
problems among others.
Those who work in dusty places are also at risk of
contracting TB, because they inhale dust which has a potential of damaging
their lungs. Once their lungs are damaged, they become so susceptible to
developing TB.
“In the category of people who work in dusty places include
the miners, stone crushers, cement loaders, people who work in hammer hills, in
quarries.
Those who work in construction industries such as building
companies and those in roads are at high risks of contracting the disease.
‘’We are saying that people who work in environments where
they are subjected to inhaling dust should always ensure protecting themselves
from inhaling dust,’’ he said.
The professional medical advice for people working in
industries is that: ‘’They should use industrial masks or face masks or indeed
use any piece of cloth to cover the mouth and nose to prevent dust from
entering the body through the mouth and nose and subsequently go to the lungs.
He further highlighted that cigarette smoking and heavy
alcohol consumption also put people at higher risk of developing TB as those
two lifestyles contribute to lower the peoples’ immunities.
The other thing which puts each individual at risk of
developing TB is when the lungs are damaged. We know that the major thing that
highly contributes to the damage of the lung is dust.
Therefore people who work in such places are advised to go
often to have tested for TB at any Government health facility.
Dr Mubanga explained that every human being has got TB. This
is the TB people in the health fraternity commonly referred to as latent TB or
dormant TB.
The dormant TB gets triggered when someone faces a challenge
of low immunity or happens to have lungs damaged due to dust inhaling.
“The Zambian government in collaboration with cooperating
partners offers all TB tests and treatments free, so each individual who thinks
is at a risk of developing TB is always advised to go for a test at any nearby
government health facility,’’ he said.
The doctor also explains that those individuals who are not
with any symptoms of TB but work in dusty environments are encouraged to go to
health facilities and screened for TB.
If such a person found TB negative, he can be put on a
preventive therapy or treatment which can last for one month or two months.
Health workers put people who work in TB risk environments
on TB preventive therapy because they know that those ones always are at higher
risk of developing the disease.
Dr Mubanga emphasized that TB is curable and all health
facilities in Zambia have enough drugs to treat TB.
It is estimated that each year 60 000 people in Zambia fall
ill with TB. 45 000 represents 75 percent of the estimated burden of TB in
Zambia.
The goal of the Ministry of Health is to eliminate TB in
Zambia by 2030 in line with Global Target.
In order to accelerate progress towards this goal, the
National TB program has embarked on a program called Matching towards finding
45 000 people with TB.
Among other stakeholders working with the Ministry of health
to eliminate TB in Zambia is Centre for Infectious Diseases and Research in
Zambia (CIDRZ) under the project of USAID Tuberculosis Local Organizations
Network Project (TBLON)
Dr David Singini is Southern province regional TB technical
lead and explains that TB is an airborne disease caused by a germ called
mycobacterium tuberculosis.
He laments that TB is one of the leading causes of death
from an infectious agent, adding that globally, in 2022, 10.6 million people
(133 in 100,000 populations per year) people got infected with this devastating
disease.
In his paper presentation at the media engagement workshop
in Livingstone recently, Dr Singini said according to the World Health
Organization Global TB report for 2023, 1.2 million people died world over
“Zambia is one of the top 30 high TB burden countries in the
world. In 2022 alone there were 59,000 new TB cases in Zambia, this translated
to 295 in 100,000 people were infected with TB. Further 5 300 people had died
in the same year.
Other statistics show that in 2019 Southern Province was one
of two provinces which had recorded the highest number of persons that died
from TB.
The TBLON project has
since partnered with the Ministry of Health in taking some measures that could
help in mitigating the escalating number of TB cases in the country.
Dr Singini cited among other interventions as training of
health workers on the Ministry of Health recommended TB treatment approaches
for TB.
The other one is supporting establishment and strengthening
of courier systems for sputum sample transportation from regions without
testing capacity to facilities with machines for testing for TB.
The Southern Province regional TB Technical Lead – USAID
Tuberculosis Local Organizations Network says linking of private health
facilities and district health offices so that TB services are being accessed
at little or no cost to members of the public that go to private health
facilities.
He also mentioned the programme of engaging civic and
traditional areas for sensitization and awareness on TB disease in communities
as another workable measure.
Mr George Musole is one of the living testimonies of having
been cured from TB after being bedridden for more than six months.
A 53-year-old man of Lusaka’s Garden Compound got sick in
2010 and for more than six months he was bedridden.
‘’Yes TB is curable, because for me, I was diagnosed with
TB. I was sick for more than six months, some people started saying that I was
bewitched because I was shivering a lot and I lost weight.
‘’But when my brother took me to the hospital it came out
that I had TB and I was commenced on treatment, after nine months I was again
texted and I was told I had no TB anymore,’’ he said.
Mr Musole, a bricklayer by profession, has since gone back
to his work and he says since then he lives a healthier life.
It is everyone’s role to support the Government and its
cooperating partners to attain the goal of eliminating TB by the year 2030.
