130 people are said to have died from tuberculosis (TB) within the last six years in the Upper East Region. In 2018, 16 people died. The figure rose to 36 in 2020. In 2020, while Ghana battled with COVID-19, 25 more people died from TB. In 2021, the figure rose to 28 and dropped to 12 in 2022. Last year, 13 died.
This is according to Suuk Wahab Laar, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for Tuberculosis in the Upper East Region. He disclosed this when he spoke to A1 Radio’s Mark Smith on the Day Break Upper East Show today.
The conversation was necessitated by the celebration of World TB Day.
World TB Day is an annual event celebrated on March 24th to raise public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and efforts to eliminate the disease. This day commemorates the date in 1882 when Dr. Robert Koch announced his discovery of the bacteria that causes TB, which paved the way for diagnosing and curing the disease.
Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that primarily affects the lungs. It is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis. TB is spread through the air when people with active TB in their lungs cough, sneeze, or transmit their respiratory fluids through the air. Symptoms of active TB include coughing that lasts three or more weeks, chest pains, coughing up blood or phlegm, fatigue, loss of appetite, chills, fever, and night sweats. While TB is curable and preventable, it remains one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. World TB Day aims to build public awareness about the health, social, and economic consequences of TB, and to step up prevention and treatment efforts.
Meanwhile, in the last three years, there has been a steady rise in the number of TB cases in the region. In 2018, the region recorded 615 cases. This figure rose to 624 in 2019 and dropped to 550 in 2020. In 2021, the figure rose to 609 and the further to 753 in 2022. 795 cases of TB were recorded in 2023.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1Mhz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith| Bolgatanga|
