As Ghana joins the rest of the world to commemorate World Tuberculosis today Thursday 24th March 2022, a Nurse and Tuberculosis focal person at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH), Thelma Adams Abraham is urging affected persons to avail themselves for a timely invention to safeguard their lives.
She indicates that, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, individuals refuse to seek medical attention to avoid being mistaken as covid patients.
TB is an air-borne disease which is caused by a bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis which affects the lungs and when not treated early, can spread to other parts of the body such as the brain, liver, kidneys, heart, among other organs over time.
It is accompanied by coughing, chest pain, unintentional weight loss, fatigue, fever, and night sweats.
To Madam Thelma, people should not be scared to visit any health facility when they start experiencing any symptoms of the disease.
“The moment you start coughing you need to visit the hospital. There is this notion that now when you visit the hospital with a cough, fever, loss of appetite, you will be asked to go in for a COVID test, so a lot of people try to avoid coming to the hospital. But the truth is that it is best you come and then you get to know your condition and get treated than to stay at home for it to get worse.”
In an exclusive interview with ATLFM NEWS, she notes, there are various drugs and medications available to fully treat the illness when detected at the early stages.
She also said it is important the public discredits the myth that Tuberculosis is caused by spiritual means.
Theme
In 2020, the incidence of tuberculosis for Ghana was 143 cases per 100,000 people which is a drop from 214 cases per 100,000 people recorded in 2001.
Speaking on the relevance of the theme for the celebration which is “Invest to end TB. Save Lives”, Nurse Adams Abraham stressed the need to urgently invest in resources to ramp up the fight against TB to achieve the commitments made by global leaders to end TB.
“We are just appealing that people should channel their resources financially, any other form of resources towards TB care so that the death will be reduced as much as possible,” she said
World Tuberculosis Day
Every year on March 24, the world commemorates World Tuberculosis Day to educate the public about the impact of TB around the world.
To mark the day, the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital is conducting free TB screening, and as such the general public is entreated to get screened.
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Source: Emmanuella Ama Gyamfi/ATLFMNEWS
