Researchers call for decentralized TB care to reduce burden
Researchers from the Re-Imaging Tuberculosis Care (RTC), a global initiative engaging in the fight against TB, say decentralizing the care of the disease will help to reduce the burden.
Uganda is one of the world’s thirty (30) high-burden countries for TB and TB/HIV co-infection. Each year, approximately 91,000 people in Uganda get sick with 32% of them being HIV-infected.
According to Dr. Achilles Katamba, one of the leaders of the initiative in Uganda, they are currently developing tools that the country will depend on to reduce the disease burden.
He says, using tools such as awareness campaigns, advocacy, and social media are one of the strategies they are recommending the country use in sensitizing the community to report cases occurring in the community.
“The community is not coming forward because they are not aware; only 91,000 people are diagnosed with the disease,” said Dr. Achilles,
He made the remarks at the TB stakeholder’s engagement meeting organized by Walimu.
The increase in tuberculosis infections is blamed on several causes, including the prevalence of HIV and AIDS, lack of awareness of the disease among the public, and poor sanitation in the slum areas of urban centres, where most cases have been recorded.
