Local gov’t, civil society urged to fight TB

Local Government leaders should work with community health workers and members of civil society groups of people living with HIV/AIDS in order to identify and deal with cases of Tuberculosis (TB) if the killer disease is to be contained. The call was made during a two-day training and sensitisation workshop on TB co-infection, for local government leaders, community health workers and people living with HIV/AIDS in Bugesera District. Over 70 participants were sensitised how to detect, screening and prevention of Tuberculosis (TB) during the workshop which ended Wednesday. Health Development Initiative (HDI) with the support of United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Program for the Fight TB and Leprosy (PNLIT) conducted the training. TB is the number one killer among people living with HIV/AIDS. A study conducted by HDI and UNAIDS in Bugesera, Gasabo and Muhanga districts showed that TB cases are still prevalent in communities, with some going undetected and untreated. The study however showed that if there was coordination between leaders, community health workers and people living with HIV/AIDS, TB cases can be detected early and treated, leading to a reduction of prevalence rates. Speaking at the closing of the training, the Vice Mayor in charge of social affairs of Bugesera district, Leonile Nalumanzi, commended the organisers of the training, noting that the skills provided to the three groups which all operate within the community will go a long way in curbing the disease. “We know that TB is curable and easily detected, but it still kills people due to ignorance. This training will benefit our communities, our people are now equipped with means of preventing it,” Nalumanzi said Dr. Aflodis Kagaba, the Executive Director of HDI, said that the two-day training workshop was aimed at equipping local government leaders, members of the civil society and community health workers with basic knowledge on TB, particularly in detecting, screening and treating the killer disease. He noted that after a one month evaluation period, the trainees will be awarded certificates basing on what they have already done within their communities.“We thought it was very important to involve local leaders especially at sector levels because these are people who deal with the population on a daily basis and they are the ones who make things happen,” Dr. Kagaba said. “With their involvement, our efforts to completely eliminate TB will be successful because it is at the grassroots level that you can tackle the disease”. On behalf of the UNAIDS, Dieudonne Ruturwa, the Social Mobilisation Adviser at UNAIDS, said that the UN vision is to reach a zero new HIV, zero AIDS death rates and zero stigma and discrimination, adding that this can be achieved through direct involvement with communities. He said that the UN target and that of the Government of Rwanda is to ensure that TB kills no more people by 2015. One of the trainees, Illuminata Lyamukuru, in charge of social affaires in Rilima Sector, said that local leaders would now be able to sensitise the citizens on the dangers of TB, its prevention and treatment. Ends