In celebration of the 2020 edition of World TB Day, NTPs carried out various actions to mark the day. Here are summaries of the activities carried out in some countries.
GHANA: Public awareness session and Q&A live on Facebook
On March 24, 2020 at 2pm, a team from NTP Ghana, led by coordinator Dr Yaw ADUSI-POKU, produced an informative and interactive video to raise awareness of the TB scourge among the general public. The aim of this activity was to provide the general public with reliable information on various aspects of TB in order to reduce the social stigmatization of patients, while respecting the measures in force as a result of COVID-19, i.e. the ban on social gathering. The Facebook live video included a first part where the NTP team informed followers about the TB program in general and various aspects of TB such as symptoms, mode of contamination, diagnosis and treatment. This part was concluded by the coordinator, who stressed that TB is curable and that treatment is entirely free of charge. He also invited the various stakeholders to play their part in helping Ghana to overcome the scourge. In the second part of the live session, the team answered questions from the audience. This live broadcast lasted around 1h02min and had over 1,400 views on Facebook.
MALI: systematic tuberculosis screening campaign at the Bamako Central Prison, with results announced on March 24.
From mid-February to March 2020, a systematic TB screening campaign was carried out at the BAMAKO central prison. The aim of the campaign was to highlight, with figures, the high incidence of TB in prisons, so that specific measures could be taken by the relevant authorities to combat this aspect of the phenomenon.
The campaign was coordinated by the Cellule Sectorielle de Lutte contre le VIH, la Tuberculose et les Hépatites virales in collaboration with the Direction Générale de la Santé. It mobilized 6 TB treatment officers and 6 laboratory technicians from Bamako’s health districts. During the campaign, 2,290 inmates and 84 prison staff were screened using LED microscopy, and positive cases were confirmed using GeneXpert. At the end of the campaign, four (4) positive pulmonary tuberculosis cases were detected among inmates. In addition to these 4 cases, 19 other cases of tuberculosis had already been diagnosed through routine activities, from October 2019 to mid-February 2020, representing an incidence of 996 per 100,000 inhabitants. This incidence is 19 times higher than the national TB incidence of 53 per 100,000 inhabitants. The results were presented on March 24 to the Minister of Health and Social Affairs and his counterpart in the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, in keeping with the preventive barrier measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In view of this situation, the Minister of Health officially launched the TB screening campaign in all the prisons and reference health centers (CSREF) in Mali’s regional capitals.
CHAD: Public awareness caravan through the city of N’Djamena
To commemorate World TB Day, NTP Chad invited artists and journalists from the press to take part in a public awareness caravan through the city of N’Djamena. The aim of this activity was to reach a large audience and mobilize the attention of the national and international community on the efforts to be mobilized to progress towards the elimination of Tuberculosis by 2030. So, on March 24, 2020, the organizing committee and guests gathered at the NTP to get the ball rolling. Led by renowned local artist RAZOLO and his association KORAVY, and in the company of the NTP Chad team, two buses fitted out for the event criss-crossed all the major avenues of the city of N’Djamena, stopping off at markets and other community gathering points. Awareness-raising texts on the 2020 World TB Day theme “It’s time” were delivered throughout the caravan, along with key messages on TB prevention, screening and treatment. The messages delivered by the artists, combined with the media coverage, undoubtedly reached many listeners and viewers in addition to the general public in the markets and main avenues.