Mike Mwaniki
23 July 2008
Nairobi — Kenya is stepping up the fight against tuberculosis, other lung diseases and leprosy as infections continue to rise.
A specialist division dealing with these diseases has been set up within the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation.
Kenya is among 22 countries with the highest TB cases in the world.
Despite asthma affecting between two to three million Kenyans - up to 10 per cent of children and five to 10 per cent of adults - the problem has remained underestimated.
Public Health and Sanitation permanent secretary James Nyikal said Tuesday the new division - previously a programme within the ministry - had been established to boost the fight against neglected non-TB lung diseases such as asthma.
The division will be responsible for preparing policy on diagnosis, treatment and research on the diseases.
The aim is to bring the treatment at par with that for diseases such as malaria, HIV and Aids.
"We have previously underestimated the significance of this problem in Kenya and I guess in other parts of Africa, as evidenced by lack of large public health programmes for care and prevention of this disease," said Dr Nyikal.
He said the new division would enable the Government to partner with professional organisations to confront these diseases.
The Government, the PS added, had included inhaled steroids that suppress asthma symptoms in the non-essential drugs list in a bid to ensure proper care for asthma patients. However, experts say Kenya still faced challenges in the treatment and care of asthma patients.
Globally, it is estimated that about 300 million people suffer from the disease, with prevalence said to be on the rise.
Dr Nyikal said in Nairobi that cases of asthma continued to be under-reported.
Preventive therapy
He was addressing medics when he opened a two-day regional training seminar attended by representatives from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Rwanda.
The medics lamented the unavailability of asthma case findings, under-utilisation of effective preventive therapy and the unavailability of monitoring tools.
They also lamented the lack of access to preventive medicines, inadequate community knowledge about asthma and the unwarranted stigma attached to the disease.
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