Healthy Living: World Tuberculosis Day
It’s one of the top ten causes of death globally. In Belize, it killed sixteen people last year. It is preventable and treatable with all the tests and treatment available for free. What disease is this? Tuberculosis. With just about one hundred new cases each year, the Ministry of Health through its National TB Programme has been working tirelessly to reduce and eventually eradicate the number of persons being affected by TB. Tonight in Healthy Living, we share some facts on TB and how to prevent it.
Marleni Cuellar, Reporting
How much do you know about tuberculosis? If the answer is not much then you’re not alone. According to Doctor Melissa Diaz, the primary health coordinator for Central Health Region, the Ministry of Health recognizes that people don’t know enough about TB.
Melissa Diaz
Dr. Melissa Diaz, Primary Health Coordinator, Central Health Region, MOH
“A survey was done recently by the Ministry of Health and they had published some of the results with regards to the knowledge and it’s still not as high as we would want it to be.”
Doctor Diaz and Doctor Keisha Westby Leonardo of the National TB Program helps to shed some light on five important facts about Tuberculosis. Fact Number One: Most Belizeans have been vaccinated for TB through our BCG vaccine given at birth but as adults we can still develop the infection or disease.
Keisha Westby Leonardo
Dr. Keisha Westby Leonardo, Asst Coordinator, National TB Programme, MOH
“The vaccination is usually for about seven to ten years so even though children are vaccinated against TB, this is to prevent the severe form of TB in children such as TB meningitis etc. So that is the coverage is about seven to ten years so there is still the risk of developing TB even if you have been vaccinated especially as an adult. If you are constantly exposed to someone who has TB that puts you at a higher risk of developing it also if you are in an enclosed area or living in an enclosed are with someone who has TB you’re also at a higher risk whereas if you’re in a more ventilated space the risk is decreased and when it comes to your status of your immune system, if you have a low immune system that also puts you at risk.”
Fact Number Two: While it is a common misconception that only persons with HIV get TB. It is NOT the case. Only one in three persons infected with TB in Belize do have HIV. Others who can be infected are persons with diabetes, cancer or any other person who has a weakened immune system.
Dr. Melissa Diaz
“Historically tuberculosis was seen manly in countries with a lot of poverty, overcrowding and now we look at patients with weakened immune system. Like HIV positive patients, diabetes, any disease that weakens your immune system puts you at risk.”
Fact Number Three: The Ministry of Health records about one hundred new cases each year. This number only represents the active cases as you can have TB and not have any symptoms. This is called latent TB – which means you contracted the bacteria but it only affects you when and if you develop a weak immune system. The WHO estimates that one-quarter of the world’s population has latent TB. Locally, the Belize District records the highest number of new cases.
Dr. Melissa Diaz
“It is definitely a priority for us at the Ministry of Health, and at Central Health Region. As I’d mentioned, we are doing a lot of training we need to detect more quickly as well so the training has helped us a lot that every facility all the doctors and nurses are able to sensitive persons do health education and do the testing make the diagnosis and start the treatment. We screen business places that have people working in small spaces, we screen the Kolbe foundations because of the overcrowding as well. These are situations that can allow the bacteria to spread more often. We look at any new cases that we have and then we do something called contact tracing so looking at where that persons works , where they work and going out to visit the home the workplaces and doing screening of people that that person has come in contact with.”
Fact Number Four: Tuberculosis is Curable. Treatment is available for free and it requires taking a series of antibiotics for about 6 months. You can be tested and treated for both active and latent TB. Successful treatment depends on an early diagnosis.
Dr. Melissa Diaz
“While every cough is not TB or will not be representative of Tb we want to have the suspicious and at least the clinical suspicion – a cough that lasts more than two weeks, prolonged cough, fever, night sweats you have to think about it you have to at least have to run out tuberculosis. The cure rate we still need improvement on that. We are for 2018 we are at about seventy percent cure rate.”
Fact Number Five: We can end TB within our lifetime.
Dr. Keisha Westby Lenoardo
“Along with the SDG goals, we are trying to put an end to TB Globally and Belize is defiantly included in that.”
That’s why the theme for this year’s World TB Day is: It’s time!
Dr. Melissa Diaz
“Leading up to world TB day which will be celebrated on this Friday. We have had a lot of screening activities, visiting schools, visiting workplaces and promoting doing health education and just doing an overall awareness and sensitization about TB. For the actual fair, we’ll have the battlefields park on Friday, we’ll have other areas along with us and we will do the screening at the fair as well as HIV testing, blood glucose, blood pressure and a lot of health promotion in other areas.”
