Let’s desist from stigmatization of TB patients – Officer

Mr Samuel Addo, the Sunyani Municipal Disease Control Officer, has appealed to the general public to desist from the stigmatization of Tuberculosis (TB) patients to help control the spread of the disease.

He expressed regret that the detection rate was not encouraging and said public discrimination against patients remained the major obstacle.

Mr Adoo said because stigmatization was high due to societal myth surrounding the disease, suspected patients were always reluctant to check and ascertain their health status which had slowed down the detection rate in the municipality.

Speaking on a radio discussion programme to mark the World TB Day, he appealed to pharmaceutical shops not to sell drugs to people who had coughed for more than two weeks but rather refer them to health facilities.

It was organized by the Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), a health centered non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The World TB Day which falls on March 24, every year, was instituted by the United Nations through the World Health Organisation, to raise awareness about the burden of TB worldwide and the status of TB prevention and control efforts.

Mr Addo said though the TB detection rate in the municipality was not encouraging, the 56 cases recorded in the municipality in 2013 jumped to 63 in 2014 and 2015 had recorded 18 cases.

Mrs Rose Baalaboore, the Brong-Ahafo Project Coordinator of the HFFG, mentioned loss of weight and appetite, night sweat, difficulties in breathing and regular coughing as some of the immediate symptoms of the disease.

She said TB was curable, treatment was administered free of charge and advised patients to strictly adhere to drugs.

Mrs Baalaboore commended queen mothers in the Sunyani Municipality and parts of the Brong-Ahafo Region for their support in helping to control the spread of the disease.