In the last five years, there has been between 52 to 68 tuberculosis (TB) cases per 100,000 people in the Sultanate, putting the country in the ‘intermediate TB burden’ category, said Minister of Health Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham bin Haji Jaafar in his message for World TB Day yesterday.
The minister said, “Alhamdulillah, the Sultanate is fortunate that multi-drug resistant TB and extensively drug-resistant TB as well as TB cases among HIV patients in the country are very low. These are the big challenges facing the world today.”
He also said, “The ministry has focused on strategies and measures to reduce the number of TB cases in the country from the current intermediate Tb burden to low which is at the rate of less than 10 cases per 100,000 population by improving the TB surveillance system, increasing awareness of health professional and the public on TB, strengthening TB screening in target groups, making sure that treatment given is followed until recovery, so the infection is not spread to others and avoiding the emergence of drug-resistant TB.”
World TB Day, the minister said, “is celebrated every March 24 with the aim to raise awareness on the preventive and control efforts on TB as it is the second leading cause of death from infectious diseases after COVID-19”.
According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) statistics, around 10 million people worldwide are infected with TB each year, 1.5 of which lead to death, adding that the majority of the cases are in developing countries.
Globally, the spread of TB variants that are resistant to drugs and factors, such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, and limited access to healthcare, are challenges facing the fight against TB.
The minister said, “WHO and Stop TB Partnership have maintained ‘Yes! We can end TB’ as the theme of this year’s celebration. aimed to encourage collective action in fighting TB in realising the 2027 HLM Political Target Declaration to end TB by 2030. It also pays attention to the success of activities organised by countries with high TB burdens to ensure access to latest diagnostics, treatment regimens, digital and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies focus on increasing involvement of TB patients, communities and societies in leading the movement towards elimination of the disease.”
Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham said TB is a communicable disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria that can spread through air.
TB’s symptoms include long-term coughing lasting over three weeks, night sweats, loss of appetite, weight loss and coughing up blood. The minister said anyone experiencing these symptoms must seek medical attention immediately. Dato Seri Setia Dr Haji Mohd Isham said the delay in getting the treatment can cause serious complications leading to death.
Patients receiving treatment must adhere to prescribed scheduled treatment or risk getting re-infection or develop drug-resistant TB, which is more challenging to treat.
The minister also called on patients’ family members, co-workers, employers and other stakeholders to see those receiving treatment to full recovery. – James Kon
