A GNA Feature by Victoria Agyemang
Cape Coast, June 23, GNA – Gloria Nyameyie (not her real name), a young vibrant, confident, and beautiful lady, was full of life at age 25. She explored the country, travelling everywhere to have fun with friends, family and loved ones.
At age 26, she thought life should be all flashy, and luxurious, and so, out of pride and against all cautions, she moved out of her parent’s home to rent an apartment for herself.
Nyameyie, with uncontrollable tears rolling down her cheeks, narrated the lessons she learnt in life to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Cape Coast, after being infected with Tuberculosis (TB), which had left her in despondency.
She revealed that she stopped depending on her parents soon after she completed her national service and had saved some money for her upkeep.
Nyameyie along the line, began sleeping with men to provide her basic needs because her account had dried up and she needed to survive but that action would become the watershed of her life.
One morning, on her usual daily routine, she suddenly felt very weak, feverish and was coughing.
She suspected she had malaria and so, she went to the pharmacy shop to purchase over-the-counter medicine which mitigated her condition.
After some months, her condition worsened, and life became unbearable as she had no money to visit the hospital.
Eventually, she received support from a good Samaritan to see the doctor and she was diagnosed with chronic respiratory failure caused by TB.
TB, a communicable disease, which leads to the development of lesions in organ tissues. The most common form of TB, Pulmonary Tuberculosis, can cause severe lung damage leading to respiratory complications and eventual death.
Nyameyie, with little money, began treatment but she is still faced with life-threatening challenges including trauma, stigma, and loneliness, which makes her feel suicidal sometimes.
Though she is going through the treatment process, the feeling of guilt is affecting her health negatively.
Nyameyie is scared to inform her parents about her condition because she failed to heed their good counsel.
She advised the youth, particularly young ladies, to beware of the decisions they take in their youthful years because bad decisions could destroy their future.
She also pleaded with Ghanaians to embrace and support persons living with TB to aid their recovery process.
The public should frequently visit health facilities to test for the disease for early detection and treatment.
STATISTICS
The World Health Organization (WHO) developed the ‘End TB Strategy,’ which was endorsed by the 67th World Health Assembly in 2014.
The strategy envisions a world free of TB, with zero deaths, disease, and suffering and this has saved about 74 million lives.
Furthermore, the strategy ambitiously proposes to “end the global TB epidemic” by 2035.
Statistically, 10. 6 million people in 2021 fell ill with TB and 1.6 million died within the same year.
It is estimated that each day, more than 4,000 lose their lives to TB globally and close to 30,000 fall ill with the disease.
TB is the third leading cause of death and the second infectious killer after Covid-19.
Ghana, for instance, losses 30 persons daily to the disease with 125 falling ill every day.
EXPERTS CONCERN
Ms Philomena Afful, the Disease Control Officer at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) told the GNA that there was a need for the citizenry to remain vigilant and report TB cases to health facilities.
She said though reported cases were low, the disease was prevalent within communities, which posed a threat to organs in the human body.
TB impacted the lungs, spine, brain, kidney, and other parts of the body and if not immediately treated could kill.
Symptoms and signs include cough, night sweats, difficulty in breathing, headache, cold, weight loss and fatigue and advised health practitioners to be on their guard.
Ms Afful noted that early detection of the disease could help immediate treatment to avoid spreading through the other parts of the body.
She urged the populace to desist from attributing TB cases to spirituality, adding that the misconception was hindering treatment of the disease.
‘As soon as people see symptoms of TB, they consult pastors, traditional priests and spiritualist for treatment which tend to worsen the situation.
Ending the disease in Ghana, she stressed the need for collective efforts by all stakeholders to fight against stigma and discrimination of the disease for persons to freely check their status regularly.
Though there are vaccines for children to prevent contracting TB, institutions must advocate for adult vaccines against the disease.
TB, she noted is preventable and curable and treatment is free, hence is no excuse for persons living with the disease to resist treatments.
GNA