'Annually over 10,000 TB patients found in Sri Lanka'
Nadira GUNATILLEKE
Annually over 10,000 new Tuberculosis (TB) patients are being discovered in Sri Lanka. The worst affected districts are Colombo, Gampaha and Kandy. Last year 2,086 TB patients were discovered from the Colombo district, Health Ministry Additional Secretary Dr. Palitha Mahipala said.
Addressing a seminar at the Health Education Bureau yesterday to mark the World TB Day which falls tomorrow every year he said that last year 1,229 TB patients were discovered from Gampaha district and the Kalutara district recorded a total of 669 TB patients. The total number was 10,329. It was revealed that 40 per cent of the Sri Lankan population expose to TB bacteria but only weak persons develop TB.
Forty per cent of TB patients are identified from the Western Province and half of them are from the Colombo district. Two thirds of TB patients are males because they smoke and take alcohol and drugs. If the trend of discovering TB patients continues, 50,000 new TB patients can be discovered from Sri Lanka in next three years.
The Health Ministry has already set up 26 TB clinics and 150 Sputum Testing Centres covering all districts. Testing and drugs are available free for the public. Therefore the ministry requests the public to get tested for TB if a cough does not go away within two weeks time and have other symptoms such as sweating at night and mild fever. TB is a completely curable disease and can be cured in six months if follow treatment strictly.
http://www.dailynews.lk/2012/03/23/news31.asp
10,000 TB cases detected in the country annually
By Don Asoka Wijewardena
Around 10,000 TB patients are detected in Sri Lanka annually, but the exact figures could not be gathered due to people’s indifference to get timely medical attention. Most patients had ignored taking medication, but the government, in collaboration with private hospitals, has implemented a Directly Observed Treatment Short course (DOTS).
Under DOTS, all TB patients are given medicine in the presence of healthcare personnel. TB could be completely cured within six months, Consultant Chest Physician Dr. Bandu Gunasena told a Media Conference at the Health Education Bureau yesterday to coincide with the World TB Day which falls on March 24.
Dr. Gunasena said that TB was caused by the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. In general, fever, constant cough for two weeks, sputum with blood and weight loss could be considered factors leading to full-blown TB. Pulmonary TB was the commonest form of TB seen among persons infected with HIV. In HIV infected persons, clinical manifestations of pulmonary TB had reflected different levels of immuno- suppression. In earlier cases of HIV infection TB was more likely to be present as classical reactivation type of disease, whereas in-patients with advanced stages of immuno- suppression, TB was more likely to be present with findings consistent to primary tuberculosis.
He added that though Sri Lanka was considered as a low prevalence country for HIV, the control of TB/HIV co-infection had become a major challenge for TB control activities due to increased global travel to high prevalent countries, where people could contract both infections and the increase of the temporary emigrant returnees from India for resettlement after the end of the war.
Health Ministry Additional Secretary Dr. Palitha Maheepala stressed that Mycrobacterium Tuberculosis was discovered by German national Robert Kock in 1882. An effective vaccination called Mumps. Measles and Rubella (MMR) would enable a child to protect himself or herself from contracting TB.
Dr. Maheepala said that smoking, alcohol consumption and malnutrition were the main factors that contribute to contracting TB. Most TB patients were from low-income groups. It was considered that about one third of the world population had contracted TB. In 2010 8.8 million TB patients were detected and 1.4 million people died of TB. At present three TB patients die every minute.
He added that Sri Lanka expected to eliminate TB in 2050.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=48111
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