18 Mar 2015

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major public problem and requires a public response, says the deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, Ms Shenaaz El Halabi.

Speaking during a press briefing in Gaborone, Ms El Halabi said in 2013, over 7 000 cases of TB were reported across the country and that TB burden per capita in Botswana remained among the highest globally.

The estimated rate of new episodes of TB, or incidences in 2014 was as high as 414 cases per 100 000 population, which was more than three times the global equivalent, she said.

She noted that as high as 63 per cent of TB patients were nfected with HIV and that Multi Drug Resistant (MDR) complicated the countries response to TB, adding that each year the ministry confirmed close to 100 new cases of MDR TB across the country.

Ms El Halabi said Botswana had come a long way in the fight against TB, adding that the Ministry of Health established the tuberculosis programme 40 years ago with the vision of seeing a Botswana free of TB. She said the country saw an initial decrease in TB cases until the late 1980s, when the first HIV cases were diagnosed.

“The number of TB cases then increased exponentially from around 5 000 cases a year in 1990 to 12000 in 2002,” saying that underscored HIV as the main driver, fuelling the TB epidemic in Botswana.
Further, she said the ministry was committed to the fight against the TB epidemic, adding that in 2014 through partner support, they successfully rolled out Gene Xpert machines across the whole country.

She said the new rapid diagnostic test was able to detect tuberculosis in hours instead of weeks or months, enabling early initiation of TB treatment which went a long way to saving lives.

“To date, more than 95 per cent of people in need of treatment are on treatment” stated Ms El Halabi, adding that the overall response to the epidemic had received accolades as among the most successful in Africa, attesting to the strong political will and capable leadership.

She said Botswana was among the few countries in the region where TB treatment was free of charge, saying both the national TB drug requirements (first and second line) were procured through Botswana’s national recurrent budget. She said despite the countries well-coordinated response the challenge of dealing with TB continued to undermine gains in this response.

The deputy permanent secretary called on Batswana to protect themselves against TB by doing small things like opening windows to save lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are only 50 per cent of all the MDR TB cases in the country, while the other 50 per cent are either missed or do not report to the health facilities, she added.

She said the cases would either die or continue to transmit the disease.

However, she said the ministry would be conducting a national drug resistance survey in the next financial year to get a true picture of the burden of drug resistance in the country. She invited all to the commemoration of the World Tuberculosis Day which would be held in Francistown on March 24.

Ms El Halabi said the day’s theme would be “Reach the three million” with the main message “Reach, Treat, Cure Everyone." The theme, she said calls for a global effort to find, treat and cure all people with TB and accelerates progress towards the bold goal of ending TB by 2035. ENDS