By Saio Marrah
The Medical Co-ordinator of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in Sierra Leone, Dr. Kennedy Uadiale, has in commemoration of 2024 World Tuberculosis (TB) day, called on other partners to support Sierra Leone in the treatment.
24th March every year is world TB day and the theme for this year is “Yes! We can end TB.”
MSF is in collaboration with the Ministry of health ministry providing treatment and management of TB in the northern district and regional headquarters of the country.
MSF’s Uadiale who was speaking to Politico at their head office in Freetown said the current TB space in Sierra Leone is too huge and that MSF, the Ministry of Health and the few other partners that are in the country are still not enough to cover up the burden.
MSF also called for roll out of diagnosis centres across other parts of the country, pointing out that there is only one referral centre in the country, based in Freetown.
He also highlighted successes they have attained in the Bombali District, where they have introduced a new innovative approach in diagnosing TB patients and of diagnosis TB in children which he said had been difficult to do in the past.
Uadiale noted that it has been a very productive collaboration with the ministry of health. He said awareness raising of the treatment of the airborne disease is their message for this year and that the treatment is effective and freely available in government hospitals.
Commenting on why only focus on Bombali District, he said it is as a result of the request by MOHS for them to target that part of the country as other organisations are busy addressing the disease in the other districts.
A press release by MSF dated 22nd March this year states that MOHS through the National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Control Programme (NLTCP), and with support from MSF/Doctors without Borders will be commemorating TB Day on the 27 March, in Makeni city.
The event aims to highlighting the state of tuberculosis care in Sierra Leone in 2024, and to campaign for the use of new innovative tools for diagnosis and treatment as well as better access to quality treatment for all those affected with TB.
With its intervention in 2020, MSF has in 2022, started the implementation of the newly recommended WHO treatment decision algorithms for pediatrics cases by training MOH staffs to use this tool , collecting stool samples when sputum is not possible and urine samples (TB LAM test) for diagnostic in children living with HIV.
It is further indicated that since the implementation of new diagnostic tools, the number of children under the age of 15 that were diagnosed in the district substantially increased from 75 in 2022 to 405 patients in 2023, with a total of 537 children under the age of 15 being treated for drug sensitive TB (DS-TB).
Many of those children were also found to have severe acute malnutrition at the start of their treatment and that malnutrition is one of the primary risk factors for tuberculosis contributing to an estimated 10,000 cases out of the 25,000 TB cases reported in Sierra Leone in 2022.
In the light of the success of the TB programme in Bombali district, MSF calls on health and development partners across Sierra Leone to implement those new tools and methods to improve the diagnosis and treatment of children with TB.
If further solicits for additional funding for the NLTCP from the Sierra Leone authorities as well as health and development partners to allow TB diagnosis and treatment of children to be rapidly scaled up, and rolled out countrywide.
According to MSF, since the starting of its treatment of child patients in 2021, 520 children have been enrolled for treatment for both drug-resistant and drug-sensitive TB.
Copyright © 2024 Politico (25/03/24)
