Ministry of Health Spokesperson Dr Kalangwa Kalangwa has disclosed that TB remains among the top ten causes of mortality and mobility in Zambia especially among people living with HIV lnspite of it being a preventable disease.
Speaking during the media science cafe held in Lusaka, Dr Kalangwa said the ministry has seen a tremendous uptake of the TB preventative medicines of over 90% in PLHIV.
" We have medication that we give to all these people at a high risk of getting TB which is free of charge and available in all health facilities across the country. We have seen tremendous uptake of this TB preventative medicine of over 90% in PLHIV," Dr Kalangwa said.
He noted that there has been a lot of hesitancy from the people who are HIV negative to be screened for TB because this are patients without any TB symptoms and believe that they cannot benefit from the TB treatment.
"We have noted a low uptake in this medicine among HIV negative of less than 50% who are at risk with some of the conditions. There has been a lot of hesitancy from this group because these are patients without any TB symptoms and believe that they cannot benefit from this treatment. However when we look at the current number of patients with TB in the country, we are seeing more TB in the HIV negative population compared to the HIV positive individuals.this is pointing to effectiveness of the TB preventative treatment in the HIV positive individuals,"Dr Kalangwa explained.
Dr Kalangwa added that there is need to encourage colleagues with some of the outlined conditions to visit the health facilities to get screened for the TB.
"For us to eliminate TB in our country, we need to encourage our colleagues with some of the outlined conditions to visit our health facilities to get screened for the TB and if they don't have symptoms suggestive of TB be offered TB preventive treatment duration options for this depending on the patient preference and clinical assessment, ranging from 1 Month, 3 months and 6 months," He said
He further added that Zambia has sustained consistent supply of all commodities for TB screening, diagnosis and treatment for the past 8 years.
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