BUSIA COUNTY, IRDO TRAIN HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS ON TB PREVENTION
The Busia Department of Health and Sanitation in collaboration with Impact Research Development Organization (IRDO) has embarked on training healthcare providers from private health facilities to boost efforts in controlling Tuberculosis (TB).
Speaking at the Chef West hotel in Busia town, the County TB and Leprosy Coordinator, Mary Asoyong said that it is part of strengthening Public Private Partnership in the fight against TB.
“Majority of our clients in the community seek healthcare services first in private hospitals before they present in public health facilities,” she said, adding that the private sector plays a key role in terms of healthcare provision including TB care services.
Ms Asoyong said that they are determined to strengthen private sector contribution in TB control to be able to improve on the indicators of interest among them TB case finding.
“We are not doing well on TB case finding considering that there is a huge drop compared to what is expected. We expect a population of TB patients of a round 424 per 100,000 population. Looking at the catchment population for Busia County we are at around 0.9 million yet we are only managing close to 1,200 TB patients annually,”
She continued: “Based on the prevalence survey 2016 we are missing close to 40 per cent of TB patients we expect to detect. This is one of the strategies we are employing to be able to reach out to the missing patients.”
Asoyong underscored the importance of residents visiting health facilities across the County to access services among them TB screening, diagnosis as well as treatment which are offered free of charge.
“TB is curable and preventable yet it is costing lives just because of gaps in health seeking behavior. Let us join hands to end TB in Busia County,” she said, and commended other partners supporting various elements in TB control among them USAID-DUMISHA Afya and KOMESHA TB.
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