World Tuberculosis Day, which is observed today (March 24 each year), is designed to build public awareness that tuberculosis remains an epidemic in much of the world.
In the Americas, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday that TB deaths have increased by an estimated 3,000 in 2020 compared to 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while about 18,300 children live with the disease in the region, with limited access to diagnosis and treatment.
As the world continues to engage in a fierce battle to contain and fight the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19), many countries which had shut off their borders and have been calling on their citizens to heed the health warnings are now slowly trying to reopen. At the moment, fighting the virus is the number one priority for Governments and health authorities, and resources are mostly channelled in this direction. It is no wonder that PAHO on Wednesday made the call for urgent investment in resources, support, care and information for the fight against tuberculosis (TB), as the COVID-19 pandemic reverses gains made against one of the world’s deadliest infections.
March 24 marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced that he had discovered the bacterium that causes TB, which opened the way towards diagnosing and curing this disease. While the coronavirus pandemic has caused great panic and worry, and brought into focus the capacity of health systems in various countries, the TB epidemic is also a serious health concern which cannot be taken lightly.
The reality is that TB is one of the top 10 causes of death, and the leading cause from a single infectious agent, even though the disease is curable and preventable. For this reason, every opportunity must be used to increase public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB.
This year’s theme, ‘Invest to End TB. Save Lives’, aims at conveying the urgent need to invest in financial, human and technological resources to ramp up the fight against TB and achieve the commitments to end TB made by global leaders.
In Guyana, TB cases have declined over the years. The Health Minister, in his TB Day message, said: “Despite being preventable and curable, TB remains a challenge, causing 1.5 million deaths globally every year. This problem is further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted medical services and stagnated or reversed earlier gains. Despite the C-19 Pandemic, the MoH TB Treatment and Care Sites remained open so that patients could access care. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the dedicated TB staff, who have been steadfast in performing their duties despite the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Locally, according to the Health Minister, one of the critical challenges in TB control is the HIV epidemic within the population. Although strong collaboration between the TB and HIV programmes has led to a decline in TB/HIV co-infection rates, HIV remains one of the biggest concerns and underlying causes of TB morbidity and mortality in Guyana. Other challenges include the high prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, high substance misuse among TB patients, and the access to services by isolated hinterland communities.
Of major concern is that the Minister highlighted that, over the years, Guyana has seen the epidemiological shift in the TB epidemic, which is evident mainly among the young working population in both urban and rural areas of the country, which now places a huge burden on TB patients and their families due to catastrophic costs.
Even though Guyana still has a far way to go, this country can boast of tremendous progress made in its fight against TB; and all efforts must be made to ensure these gains are not reversed. One example of this progress is the collaboration between the Health Ministry and the Human Services and Social Security Ministry in improving the social protection of the less fortunate TB patients,
Ending TB will only be achieved with greater collaboration within and across Governments, and with partners from civil society, communities, researchers, the Private Sector and development agencies. This means taking a whole-of-society and multidisciplinary approach in the context of universal health coverage. While fighting the spread of coronavirus is crucial at this time, the battle against TB must also be maintained.
