World Tuberculosis Day on Friday - Learn more about the disease

Most adults have been infected but do not have the disease. They only progress to the disease is when the immune system is reduced through diseases such as HIV; long term steroid use; use of chemotherapy agents and cancers.

In Ghana, the total number of people who had Tuberculosis in 2012 was 15,198 out of which 856 were children. Treatment success rate was 85.5 per cent and death rate was 10.7 per cent.

Most pulmonary tuberculosis will present with long standing cough with or without blood, weight loss, drenching night sweats (not the dom so dom so type), loss of appetite, swelling of lymph nodes, low grade fever and so forth. It could also be extra pulmonary conditions, which is common in children. These include TB meningitis, TB of the spinal bone, TB lymph adenitis and so forth. Tuberculosis can affect practically every part of the body.

World TB Day

Traditionally, the World TB day is on March 24. Being a Sunday, this year’s celebrations has been shifted to March 22. The slogan for the day is “Stop TB in my Life time” and the theme is “A call for a world Free of TB”. This event marks the beginning of activities to sensitise the population to TB throughout the year in all TB districts in Ghana

National Prevalence Survey

According to the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) Doctors Goggle Group, the  launch of this year’s National TB prevalence survey is the first in 56 years. It will take place in at least 25 survey cluster sites throughout Ghana. The survey will last 10 for months.

TB Exhibition

Another important highlight of the day is the TB exhibition which follows immediately after the launch.There will be a stand to provide basic information on TB, Childhood TB, TB medication and Nutrition, Celebrities who had TB, infection control, and screening point. Community Based Organisations and TB Care groups would also exhibit some of their works.

Schoolchildren will be part of the exhibition. They will be provided with exercise books with TB inscriptions on them.

Conclusion

TB is all about us because being airborne we are all at risk. We all need to take the opportunity to learn more about the disease.

Story by Dr Anthony Enimil

The writer is a Paediatric TB specialist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi.