WESTERN UGANDA: LEADERS CONCERNED OVER TUBERCULOSIS-TB CASES IN KITAGWENDA

Local leaders in western Uganda have expressed concern over looming surge in cases of tuberculosis-TB in Kitagwenda district and other hotspots in the region if the public does not seriously embrace immunization of babies after birth, and patients taking full dosage of the drugs.
The TB focal person for Kitagwenda district, Alex Sabiti says Kitagwenda needs serious attention because many people have also not embraced testing to know their TB status.
In 2022 alone, cough monitors detected a total of 320 TB patients out of the tested or sampled number of 324 in the entire Kitagwenda district.

Locals and other concerned stakeholders have now called on the government and other partners to increase awareness, resource allocation and localize services to enable quick and easy access to TB prevention and treatment services, and other interventions.
Dr. Diana Atwine,the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health says TB drugs are accessible and free in all government health facilities across Uganda.
30 PEOPLE IN UGANDA SUCCUMB TO TB DAILY: World Health Organization-WHO July 2023 statistics indicate that each year, approximately 91,000 people in Uganda get sick of TB with 32% of them being HIV-infected. Two out of every 100 people with TB have drug-resistant TB that is not cured by first-line drugs, while approximately 15% of TB cases in Uganda are children aged below 14 years.
TB remains one of the world’s deadliest infectious killers and a growing challenge in Uganda with each day close to 240 people falling ill with TB, and approximately 30 losing their lives.
More than half of TB-related deaths are among people living with HIV, yet it is preventable and curable.

HOW IS THE SITUATION IN AFRICA? The African region is recording around 4% annual decline rate in tuberculosis (TB) cases. Although the rate is double the global pace, the region risks missing major milestones and targets to end the disease if efforts are not scaled up rapidly, according to World Health Organization.
The WHO End TB Strategy calls for countries to reduce TB deaths by 75% and cases by 50% by 2025 compared with the 2015 levels. To cross the 2025 milestone, the annual pace of reduction should reach 10% per year.
Yet despite the slowing pace towards the 2025 target, the African region has made progress in recent years. For example, TB deaths in the region fell by 26% between 2015 and 2021, with high-burden TB countries surpassing initial targets to lower TB cases. Accelerating TB elimination progress is crucial.

“African countries have made remarkable progress against TB. The question is no longer about whether we can end TB, but how fast we must act to reduce the disease burden, save lives and maintain a high momentum towards a TB-free world,” Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa.
The End TB Strategy also sets 2030 targets to cut TB deaths by 90% and cases by 80%, for which the annual reduction progress must be accelerated to 17%, and further reductions to realize the 2035 vision of a world free of TB.