27 Nov 2019

A Tuberculosis (TB) Specialist at Nyangabgwe Referral Hospital in Francistown, Ms Kedi Mbakile has applauded ACHAP for partnering with the government in the fight against TB.

Speaking during the bi-annual TB campaign in Francistown on November 26, Ms Mbakile said the purpose of the campaign was to reflect on the progress made in the fight against the disease.

This year’s campaign, held under the theme: Unite to end TB, she said called for each Motswana to make a contribution towards fighting the TB scourge.

She said globally, nine million people get sick with TB every year, adding that in 2015, it accounted for more than 1.5 million deaths globally, making it more deadly than HIV.

“TB remains a major public health problem in Botswana,” she said, adding that in 2016, 6 000 TB cases were reported and of this, about 392 died while on treatment.

Ms Mbakile said 517 TB cases were reported in Francistown, 443 of which were new and 38 died while on treatment.

She said the threat of drug-resistant TB continued to be a serious problem complicating TB treatment and care.

She said in 2016, there were 108 reported cases of multi-drug resistant TB in Francistown.

Ms Mbakile further noted that the HIV epidemic made people more susceptible to TB as in 2016, 59 per cent of TB patients were among people living with HIV.

However, she said government had made significant progress in response to the two diseases with the introduction of the Treat All Strategy for HIV.

“We are hopeful that the strategy will go a long way in lowering the future incidences of TB in our country,” she added.

The specialist said for the country to attain epidemic control, every individual should get tested for HIV and agree to start Anti-Retroviral (ARVs) Drugs if they test positive.

She further noted that government continued to mobilise resources for the implementation of both TB and HIV programmes.

She said through the financial assistance of the Global Fund, the ministry was currently implementing community models of care, adding that such volunteers as ACHAP were recruited to do TB screenings, tracing patients lost to care and providing adherence support at community level.

Ms Mbakile challenged both the private sector and communities to invest more on health issues including TB control, adding that investing in a healthy workforce made business sense.

A TB survivor, Ms Kefilwe Selotlego said the most important treatment for TB was having a supportive family.

She noted that through family support, she was able to take her treatment accordingly, which made it possible for her to be healed within six months.

“Every pill a day will surely get you towards your healing,” she said.

Kgosi Lebonetse Ramasaka of Monarch encouraged residents to go for health screenings in order to have prolonged lives. ENDS