Abdulraheem Aodu
16 June 2008
Kaduna — Nearly 1,200 cases of tuberculosis were detected in Kaduna State in the first quarter of 2008. The patients have however been placed under directly observed short course treatment (DOTS), according to Commissioner for Health.
Speaking at the weekend at an occasion to commemorate the World Tuberculosis Day with the theme; "You Can Stop Tuberculosis", Dr Yari Everton Peter said tuberculosis infection seemed to have disappeared world over, but reappeared in the early 90s, infecting millions of people worldwide and giving it the status of a major public health problem. He added that in line with the resolve to make the good health of citizens a priority, the state government established the tuberculosis and leprosy control programme in 1997 after signing an MOU with the Netherlands leprosy relief agency to provide essential services aimed at stopping the disease in the state.
"Kaduna State signed a memorandum of understanding with the Netherlands Leprosy Relief in 1997 to provide free microscopy test, free drugs for the eight-month treatment, do active case finding in local communities and create awareness for most people on the free tuberculosis services.
"The state's effort at eradicating the disease is yielding positive results as tuberculosis case finding is good. In the first quarter of 2008, 1, 113 patients were detected. The state started active DOTS services in 1998 with three centres in Zaria, Kaduna and Kafanchan. This has however increased to 104 centres spread across all the 23 local government in the state. We also have over 20 private health facilities in the state administering DOTS.
"Based on the success of the initial MOU, Kaduna State will sign another MOU for the next five years (2008 - 2012)."
He therefore advised that tuberculosis contrary to some perception is a treatable disease noting that anybody who suffers persistent cough with sputum for more than three weeks with or without fever, anorexia, night sweats or weight loss should immediately go to a tuberculosis centre for tests.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
