Promiscuity, negligence and poverty are blamed for the rising number of infections in a province that already counts the highest number of patients

source -The Herald

Promiscuity, negligence and poverty are blamed for the rising number of infections in a province that already counts the highest number of patients countrywide

Of 6.700 tuberculosis patients residing in the Littoral province, 4.500 are Douala city dwellers. The statistics, which place the province at the top of countrywide TB prevalence rates, were unveiled Monday, 24 March as the world commemorated the 15th international day for the fight against the killer ailment.

Fon Elizabeth, provincial coordinator for the fight against TB, said the Littoral showed the highest
infection rates in the country. It is home to 24 percent of the 24.000 TB cases recorded in hospitals nationwide last year, she said. In other words, the figures could be far higher if all affected persons sought treatment.

The medic, however, noted that the authorities were not relenting in their strides to check the incessant spread of the disease. Of 30 approved TB treatment centres across the province, 19 are located in Wouri division which has Douala as its headquarters. Treatment at these centres is provided gratis upon consultation fees of only 1.000 FCFA, Dr Fon reiterated.

She said some 4.300 patients in the province were successfully treated in 2007, amounting to about 75 percent of the detected cases. Unfortunately, 15 percent of patients under treatment chose to abandon the free treatment. An ongoing program put in place by the Douala City Hall aims at detecting the escaped patients to force them to complete treatment. Medics
said interrupting treatment could mean prolonging the process especially for cases of chronic TB. Treatment can span between two and six months in the worst cases.

Promiscuity, negligence and poverty were largely blamed for the unwavering spread of the disease here. According to WHO statistics, TB registered a towering nine million patients worldwide in 2007, killing 1.7 million. Officials of the organisation that has been the urgent need for governments to reinvigorate said the rather dangerous situation prevailed because TB
had been largely forgotten and/or neglected by many governments around the world.
Modest drop in Cameroon TB incidence

Meanwhile the number of people suffering from tuberculosis (TB) in Cameroon is on the decline,
health authorities said Monday in Yaounde at a press conference on World Tuberculosis Day.

According to the Public Health minister, Andre Mama Fouda, the figures have dropped by about 1000 – from 24,879 in 2006 to 23,975 in 2007.

Despite this drop, which health officials described as significant, but which is obviously modest, the permanent secretary at the National Committee for the Fight Against Tuberculosis, Wang Hubert, noted that Cameroon still does not meet the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) target.

He said one of the main objectives of the tuberculosis committee is to attain the WHO target by next year.

The committee, he said, also has the task of intensifying the follow-up of patients who have often
abandoned treatment, a reason why Cameroon is lagging behind in attaining the WHO target of cutting down figures by 85 percent.

Cameroon has, however, done very well in screening for the disease. Authorities say 93 percent of Cameroonians have been screened, over 20 percent more than the WHO target of 70 percent.

This increase in screening, and the drop in the cases of tuberculosis, Wang said, is a result of the
increase in the number of tuberculosis centres, the availability of free treatment and media campaigns against the disease.

He called on people who have not been screened to make sure that they are tested, especially when they begin to suffer from persistent cough.