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From Aniekan Aniekan, Calabar
Health officials in Cross River State have reassured residents that tuberculosis (TB), particularly drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), is curable, and that testing and treatment are free in the state.
This was disclosed during a Community Dialogue Meeting with healthcare workers for experience sharing, organised by the Combat DR-TB Project under the Tuberculosis Network.
Programme Manager of the State Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Buruli Ulcer Control Programme, Eugene Ageji, said TB remains one of the highest killers of people living with HIV.
“If you have 10 people living with HIV, the majority of those who will die are most likely going to be people who also have TB,” Ageji said.
He said the meeting was to bring together TB survivors and the media to spread the message that TB is not a death sentence.
“TB is treatable, TB is curable, the drugs are available and free,” he said.
Also speaking, the State DR-TB Focal Person, Glory Asuquo, said the state currently has 28 DR-TB patients in care.
Asuquo said that in Quarter 2, the state notified 22 cases and enrolled all of them, while in Quarter 3, six cases were diagnosed and all six were enrolled.
She explained that enrolment dropped in Quarter 3 because outreach was reduced due to the weather.
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She said the state no longer has drug shortages, adding that patients are enrolled only when a complete pack of drugs is available, to avoid interruption of treatment.
“There are no missed cases in the state at the moment, they are all totally enrolled,” she said.
The Desk Officer of DR-TB at the Lawrence Ene Infectious Disease Hospital, Idang Owatimehin, said DR-TB affects the lungs and other parts of the body.
Symptoms include a persistent cough for more than two weeks, night sweats and weight loss.
She said that, based on new research, treatment duration has been reduced from 18 months, with eight months of daily injections, to just six months with four combination drugs.
Testing for HIV, she added, is mandatory for TB patients because the combination of HIV and TB carries a very high mortality risk for the patient.
“It is very easy for someone with TB to survive it, but with HIV, the mortality rate is high,” she said, adding that HIV lowers the body’s immune system and allows opportunistic infections to come in.
She emphasised that awareness, early detection and treatment are key in DR-TB management.
She added that DR-TB is largely man-made and develops when drug-susceptible tuberculosis (DS-TB) is not properly treated or when patients do not complete their DS-TB treatment.
Some survivors also shared testimonies of how they fully recovered after completing treatment and encouraged patients to take advantage of available services.
