By Jerry Omondi
COVID-19 has disrupted Africa’s fight against Tuberculosis (TB), the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, pointing out that most focus had been placed on the response against the current pandemic.
The WHO noted that in many countries, human, financial and other resources have been reallocated from tackling TB to the COVID-19 response, limiting the availability of essential services.
This has resulted in hardships for people living with TB in their quest for critical care.
The global health agency added that COVID-19 has also impacted the detection of drug-resistant TB, with the number of cases recorded in the AFRO region having declined by 28 percent in 2020 compared to 2019.
“There are also reports of inadequate patient retention in care, as COVID-19 has exacerbated weaknesses existing before the pandemic,” said WHO.
“Although there are negative effects, we can apply some of the lessons learned in fighting COVID-19 in TB control. These include the effective collaboration between the public and the private health sectors, the real-time reporting of new cases and effective dissemination of information.”
TB is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis) that most often affect the lungs.
TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air.
Despite being preventable an curable it still causes hundreds of thousands of deaths globally each year.
According to the WHO, a total of 1.5 million people died from TB in 2020, 25 percent of which were recorded in Africa.
In efforts to eradicate TB, the WHO has advised countries to scale up preventive therapy and improve infection control measures at all public and private health care facilities.