Cure present, but Kenya yet to win TB war

A wheezing sound and a sharp chest pain, weakened limbs that slows movements leading to grimaced faces to depict highest degree of discomfort. These are some of the tribulations that Kenyan Tuberculosis patients have to undergo.

It is a disease that was once considered rare but dreaded. The symptoms were unknown but being that it is airborne, many people developed fear of contracting it.

Despite the existence of cure for Tuberculosis in Kenya, many people have developed even more intense fear for it.

Many years down the line and as it stands now, Kenya has back peddled in in the fight against Tb instead of making steps.

A 2009 report by the World Health Organization ties the untamable nature of TB in Kenya to the emergence of other diseases that come with it.

 “Cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Kenya have increased …, largely as a result of the impact of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on the disease, presenting substantial challenges to control of the disease,” the report reads in part.

With the association of TB and HIV, which the WHO report states to have begun in past 1990s, there has been increase of stigma on the disease. Such social behavior change leads to a dip on the fight against the disease.

As an instance, WHO report states, “Before the advent of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 1990, notification rates of cases of tuberculosis (TB) in Kenya were falling steadily at about 4% per year.

The HIV epidemic reversed this trend, and by the middle of the 1990s the case notification rate was increasing at 15% per year.”

The efforts made by the Kenyan Government to contain Tuberculosis seem to have not yielded fruits.

A report from the ministry of health, known as National Strategic Plan for Tuberculosis, Leprosy and Lung Health ranks TB as the fourth deadliest disease in Kenya.

HIV/AIDS is the most rampant cause of death with 29%, and TB accounts for 6.3%, the report adds.

Kenya’s TB historical control mechanisms

Titled “A brief history of tuberculosis control in Kenya”, the WHO report details some of the control mechanisms that Kenya has used in the past to control disease.

Short Course Chemotherapy

In the period of 1991 to 1995, the Kenyan and Dutch governments partnered in an initiative that was meant to fight TB through the adoption of the short-course therapy.

During this time, the government made gains by treating patients with pulmonary TB. But the WHO report cites a setback that was brought by increasing prevalence of TB as well as HIV.

Strengthening National Leprosy and TB Control program

The Kenyan and Dutch governments embarked on signing a second agreement where the two governments shared the cost of drugs equally.

Also, treatments for extra pulmonary TBs also began the program ran from 1996 to 2000. Oral medications were also introduced to complement the short course chemotherapy.

Centers for Disease Prevention and Control and Global AIDS Program

The exit of Dutch government prompted the Kenyan government to seek help from the USA. This led to the partnership of CDC and GAP which funded the treatment program up to 2006.

Even with the increase in intervention, heightening HIV prevalence is continuing to cause a dent on the gains. For example, the report states that in 2007, the number of TB patients rose to 74%. Ten years down the line, TB is still regarded as a deadly disease in Kenya despite its manageability.

World Trends

As the World TB Day is marked across the world, the disease remains to be a menace that strains most health care facilities.

Most of facilities have to be outstretched to meet the other problems associated with the disease such as resistance to medication. Besides, thousands of lives are lost each day, where many of such people are drawn from the less fortunate groups in the society such as prisoners, migrants, miners, refugees and women and children.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has launched the ethical guidelines geared towards protecting the TB patients on March 22. This is a step aimed at empowering countries implementing the end TB strategy to adhere to the required patient handling standards.

A statement by WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, from the website reads, “WHO is determined to overcome the stigma, discrimination, and other barriers that prevent so many of these people from obtaining the services they so badly need.”