Hafsa Obeng
Accra, March 27, GNA – The Ashanti Foam Factory (AshFoam), in collaboration with the Okaikoi Sub-Metro Health Directorate and the Rotary Club of Accra Dzorwulu, has held a health screening exercise to commemorate this year’s World Tuberculosis (TB) Day.
The health screening on the theme: “Yes! We Can End TB In Ghana” was aimed at drawing the attention of residents within the Okaikoi Sub-Metro and its environs on the need to test and know their TB status and seek for treatment early.
The exercise saw residents from both within and outside Okaikoi Sub-Metro who were screened for TB, diabetes, Covid-19, blood pressure, malaria, eye screening, and general counselling, among others.
Nana Yaw Ampem-Darko, Head of Marketing and Communication, AshFoam, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said TB still remained a crucial public health threat in Ghana as well as Globally.
He said over the years the company had embarked on various activities to commemorate the day and sensitize people on the causes, prevention and treatment of TB, saying “every year, we do free health screening for all the staff here especially the drivers who are always on the road.”
Mr Darko stated that this year, they were looking forward to screening over 1000 people.
He reiterated the need for the government to understand that without financial resources, the
fight against TB could be lost and urged Ghanaians to get tested and know their TB status for early treatment, saying the disease was curable
Madam Haphsheitu Yahaya, TB Coordinator for Okaikoi Sub-Metro Health Directorate, encouraged people who would be diagnosed with TB to start and complete treatment to get rid of the disease in their system completely.
She said, “for such people you must ensure to always be in open places or places where there is proper ventilation and avoid over crowded rooms to curb its spread.”
“TB can be cured and any person coughing for a longer duration should report to the nearest health facility for checkup,” she added.
Mr Emmanuel Munakor, a beneficiary, expressed gratitude to AshFoam and its partners for such exercise and for conducting various tests, saying it would go a long way to help them to know
their health status in general, and seek treatment where necessary.
Mr Munakor appealed to Ghanaians, especially those who could barely afford to take advantage of the period and patronize any health screening organised freely by benevolent organisations to check and know the conditions of their health.
“According to the World Health Organization (WHO) report, TB is the second leading infectious killer disease globally after COVID 19. As an airborne disease, TB anywhere is TB everywhere.”
TB is a disease caused by germs that spread from person to person through the air. It usually affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body, such as the brain, the kidneys, or the spine.
It is estimated that each day, about 4,010 people lose their lives to TB across the world, and 28,000 get infected as estimated by WHO.
In 2021, Ghana recorded an estimated 44,000 new cases. Out of this,13,332 were the actual cases on treatment, and 30,668 cases were missing.
An estimated 4,400 children got infected with 645 on treatment and about 12,000 people died undiagnosed.
GNA