By Erica Apeatua Addo
Prestea (W/R), March 28, GNA – The Deputy Director in charge of Public Health at Ghana Health Service (GHS), in the Western Region, Dr Grace Amugi, has implored all persons affected with Tuberculosis (TB) to seek early treatment from any health facility to prevent transmission of the disease.
She said although TB medications were free, people refused to visit health facilities for treatment but instead use all kinds of medications including herbs which end up complicating the issue.
Dr Amugi gave the advice when the Western Regional Ghana Health Services Directorate commemorated this year’s World TB Day at Prestea, in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality.
“Yes! We can end TB,” was the theme for this year’s celebration.
She mentioned cough, weight loss, sweating at night and fever as some of the symptoms of TB, added that, “If you cough for more than two weeks kindly present yourself to any health facility for testing and treatment.”
“The disease can be treated within six months, if you take the medication continuously and adhere to what the health officers will tell you. Let us all help to save more lives,” the deputy director cautioned.
Dr Isaac Dasmani, Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of Prestea Huni-Valley, said each year they commemorate the World TB Day on March 24 to raise public awareness of the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB and step-up efforts to end the TB epidemic.
According to the MCE, “The 2022 municipal annual health review report revealed that 245 TB cases were recorded in 2011 out of which 201 were successfully cured, while 44 completed their treatment.”
The Municipal achieved 100 per cent success rate. Prestea, Himan and Bondye Sub municipal accounted for 40 per cent of the total cases, while 88 per cent of the client were males”.
Additionally, “Am reliably informed of the assistance of the National TB Control Programme. They paid a visit to the municipality to help screen TB, COVID-19, and HIV from February 20 to March 3, 2023. Even though not all samples have been examined by GeneXpert machine, about 21 new cases have been recorded out of 259 spectrum samples.
Dr Dasmani said if this intervention had not reached them about 210-315 people could have been infected within a year and therefore expressed gratitude to the Western regional health directorate for the support which he described as timely.
Nana Nteboah Pra IV, Divisional Chief of Prestea Himan, for his part, appealed to traditional authorities, opinion leaders, organizations and individuals to assist the municipal health directorate carry out more screening exercise to help identify and treat all TB cases.
TB is an infectious bacterial disease that affects the lungs and spread through the cough and sneeze of an infected person.
GNA