Int’l day to combat tuberculosis markedFight continues [Archives:2003/631/Health]

Ismail Al-Ghabiri

The 24th of March of every year is marked worldwide as the international day for combating Tuberculosis. On this day, World Health Organization (WHO) amid many other health organizations call upon developing countries that suffer from this disease to combat it and spread awareness regarding the social and health dimensions and consequences of the disease. WHO stressed in its call this year on the importance of governmental and nongovernmental organizations' cooperation in fighting this fatal disease.

International Statistics:
Tuberculosis is one of the main reasons behind early death worldwide. Around one quarter of the world's population is infected with the bacteria and as many as 8 million new cases are reported yearly out of which 2 million are fatal according to 1997 census.
Ninety five percent of the infections and 98% of death cases resulting from this disease are reported to be in developing countries only while in the developed world it is almost extinct. The disease in poor countries has taken the shape of epidemics where the immunity to the medication is strong and failure of combating programs is drastic in most of the developing countries.

In Yemen:
Forty five out of every 100,000 people in Yemen were said to be infected with Tuberculosis in the 1990 census. However, recent statistics raised the figure to 100 cases in every 100,000. UNICEF explained that this increase is due to the deterioration of living conditions, malnutrition, early and repetitive pregnancies and population congestion.
During the mid-1990s the National Program for Eradication of Tuberculosis (NPES) started a strategy to provide short term chemical treatment under direct supervision by experts. Medically this was known as DOTS. This strategy was promoted by WHO due to its effectiveness in eradicating the disease as 85% of patients treated by this method are reported to heal completely.

Misconceptions:
A sum of common misconceptions regarding Tuberculosis in the Yemeni society plus the gap between the NPES and the society were factors that lead to the failure of various Tuberculosis combating programs. These were related to the disease itself, to the treatment and to the perception of the society's role in these matters.
Many Yemenis think that the disease is incurable, or could not be cured completely. Some people try to ignore or even hide the symptoms of the disease either out of shame or ignorance. Some of the patients stop taking the medications once they start feeling better and some are not regular or accurate in taking them. All these factors that originate from illiteracy and lack of awareness should be eliminated through education programs and consistent follow ups by medical teams. Governmental institutions and NGOs along side donors should join hands to help promote awareness and eliminate the disease throughout the country. The medical treatment should be made available and accessible by all Yemenis, especially the poor segments of the society, which is the segment that suffers from most of Tuberculosis infections.
Not only among patients, but awareness should be spread among those who work in the medical field as well, especially with regards to the DOTS method of treating that requires continuous monitoring of patients while they take the medications in the first two months of treatment.
In essence, for the ultimate success of this method, five factors should be achieved:
– Government commitment to combating Tuberculosis
– Diagnosis of the cases through microscopic testing
– Continuous and nonstop supply of medications to all patients
– A standard gauge for monitoring and supervision of the treated cases
– Finally, the should be a two month intensive medication program in medical centers where patients receive their medical doses.
——
[archive-e:631-v:13-y:2003-d:2003-04-14-p:health]