VOLTA REGION LAUNCHES WORLD TB DAY AT ZIOPE (PAGE 42, JUNE 2, 2010)

This year’s Volta Regional celebration of the World Tuberculosis Day has been launched at Ziope in the Adaklu Anyigbe District.
Speakers at the launch reminded the people that the disease continued to be a health hazard because people suffering from it shied away from seeking treatment at health facilities.
This is in spite of the fact that the disease is curable and medical services are available and free.
The acting Volta Regional Director of Health Services, Dr Timothy Letsa, said detection rate in the region had been a major challenge, noting that last year, 1,579 TB cases were detected and treated in the region, constituting only about 42 per cent of cases detected.
“Last year, in the Volta Region, 1,579 TB cases were detected representing 42 per cent smear positive case detection rate but a very high cure rate of 92 per cent,” he said.
Dr Letsa attributed stigmatisation and superstition as reasons which kept people from reporting to hospital, adding that “TB is curable so all should join in the fight to eradicate it from the society.”
He called on health personnel to be more professional in their duties.
The Deputy Director in charge of Public Health Services, Dr Winfred Ofosu, attributed the increase in TB cases to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
He, therefore, called for the intensification of the fight to halt both HIV/AIDS and TB.
The Adaklu Anyigbe District Chief Executive, Mr Michael Komla Adzaho, who launched the programme, assured the people of the government’s commitment in creating awareness of the threat posed by the disease in its efforts to ensure the good health of the people.
He implored the people to guard against excessive alcoholic intake and exposure to dust in order to accelerate efforts towards achieving the targets of the Millennium Development Goals for TB by 2015.
“Indoor and outdoor air pollution, asthma, smoking, pneumonia, unwarranted alcoholism, among others affect lung health and breathing. Most of these conditions are preventable if the risk factors are avoided,” he said.
The Volta Regional Co-ordinator of HIV/AIDS and TB, Mr Joseph Kwami Degley, also urged the patients not to shun treatment, since it was suicidal to do so, especially when treatment was free.
The acting Adaklu Anyigbe District Director of Health Services, Ms Patience Nunoo, in her welcoming address, said TB detection rate in the district was poor, since only 12 TB cases were detected out of the supposed 135 cases, representing a case detection rate of 19 per cent.