Tuberculosis disease becoming a national threat

Tuberculosis is currently affecting 281 out of 100,000 people in Ghana with the Greater Accra, Eastern, Central and Ashanti Regions as the hardest hit while it is estimated that one in every 10 patients with AIDS would die of Tuberculosis in Ghana.

Ghana has been ranked globally at 32nd and in the 13th position in Africa by established number of Tuberculosis (TB) cases reported to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Kwakye Addo NDC- Afram Plains South said this in a Statement in Parliament on Monday to commemorate this Year's World Tuberculosis Day that falls today. He said the problem of TB in Ghana was increasing with the emergence of slums in the urban areas, homelessness and substance abuse coupled with poor environmental sanitation that is aggravating the situation.

The Member said "we should therefore, tackle the disease head-on since failure will lay us open to an uncontrolled epidemic'. Addo said the world is now threatened with new killer-bacteria, called Multi-Drug resistant TB that was mainly man-made.

He said if TB patients do not get the needed support to complete their treatment they may end up with the drug resistance form of TB, and this puts the whole society at risk because this type of TB is almost incurable.

Addo said "TB" should be considered a national security threat that deserves more attention from all stakeholders. Anyone can contract TB whether rich or poor, young or old, male or female without the option of prevention".

The National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTCP) mandated to spearhead the fight against TB and all public health facilities including quasi-government health institutions should be resourced adequately to fight the disease before the country was taken by events, he added.

Addo said the Day is set aside to create the necessary awareness of various stakeholders on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of TB and the importance of its effective control.

He said it also has the potential to significantly increase case detection rate through education, awareness-building and social mobilisation. The Day also seeks to increase the impact of activities by extending a focused Stop TB Campaign beyond World TB Day to the rest of the year, and educate the general public on the symptoms and treatment of TB and the need for people to get tested at a clinic if they have symptoms of the disease.

Modestus Ahiable, NDC-Ketu North said there was the need for better nutrition and housing to curb the incidence of TB adding that people who are vulnerable are those who share rooms with TB patients and not protected.

He said animals slaughtered should be thoroughly inspected because some of them could be sources of TB. Stephen Balado Manu, NPP- Ahafo Ano South said the recent surge of the disease could be attributable to poverty while the living conditions of the people was appalling thus making the people vulnerable to the disease.

Joe Gidisu, NDC-South Tongu said TB has become one of the dominant diseases that is taken for granted and said effort should be made to resource the Primary Health Care Programme.

Kwabena Adusa Okerchiri, NPP- Nkawkaw said one area of focus on checking the spread of TB should be at the churches especially the Spiritual Churches where they profess to treat all manner of diseases.

He said prayers and medical attention are needed to cure all ailments so that the impact of the TB disease could be reduced. Dr Kwaku Afriyie, Minister of Health said the symptoms that include fever, cough and cold among others must be observed adding that the treatment of TB was absolutely free and the disease was curable.

He said the prevalence of the disease is on the increase with the advent of the AIDS but regretted that people have not availed themselves with the free health facilities for the treatment of TB.