Regional News of Monday, 28 August 2017

Source: mynewsgh.com

Tuberculosis kills 23 in West Akyem Municipality

Out of the number 12 have died, 15 declared cured while 51 are still on treatment Out of the number 12 have died, 15 declared cured while 51 are still on treatment

More than 23 persons have died of Tuberculosis in West Akyem Municipality of the Eastern out of 184 were diagnosed and 131 treated within a spate of 3 years.

The alarming spread of TB infections according to health personnel in the area needs to be curtailed.

Disease Control officer in the Health Directorate, Mr. Moses Ali Laar in an interview with Koforidua Bryt Fm revealed that 3 deaths have so far been recorded this year alone blaming the deaths to undue delays in patients seeking medication.

He also bemoaned the fact that most of them resort to prayer camps and herbalists for healing after they are made to believe that TB is a spiritual attack warning that it has the possibility of exacerbating their conditions.

TB is caused by Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, an organism that has caused infection in humans since Stone Age and its airborne-aerosols containing the bacterium remain suspended in rooms for hours after being coughed out by a person with TB.

It is disturbing Ghana is currently recording 640 new cases per year in a new form of tuberculosis cases.

Ghana is a TB endemic country, 14, 632 cases were diagnosed and put on treatment in 2015.

The National Tuberculosis Program says 77 cases of Multi Resistant TB in 2016 up from 60 recorded in 2015 being treated.

Out of the number 12 have died, 15 declared cured while 51 are still on treatment.

National Tuberculosis Program began enrollment of Multidrug Resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases onto treatment in 2012 which currently has about 182 patients being treated.

In 2015, TB killed 1.5million people Worldwide and an estimate of 26,000 people in the Sub-Sahara Africa, and in Asia, particularly in India and China.