RUKUNGIRI TB CASES SCARE PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS

By Barak Tukashaba
In Rukungiri–
Members of Parliament sitting on the parliamentary TB caucus have
expressed worry over the increasing cases of multi Drug Resistant
Tuberculosis in the country. Multi drug resistant Tb is the type of TB
which is hard to be treated with most drugs.
The Members of parliament who are on the western districts TB tour
assessment lead by the caucus chairperson; Hon Winnie Matsiko also the Woman Member of Parliament Rukungiri, Hon. Beatrice Rwakimari the woman Member of Parliament Ntungamo District and Hon Rosemero Mutuza, meant and discussed with district leaders about TB.
The district TB focal person Cornelius said that at least 110 cases
were registered in the last two months of 2017 of which most of them
were multi Drug Resistant patients.
The increase was blamed among others; on drug defaulting patients,
lack of Gene x-pert testing machines used in testing Tuberculosis,
migration of patients, under funding of the health sector.

He said that lack of the Gene x-pert machines in health centers has
created a big gap in detecting the TB positive patients.

He said many Tuberculosis patients in Rukungiri district don’t
complete the prescribed treatment, which is affecting the management
and treatment of the disease.

The chairperson of the caucus Hon Winnie Matsiko also the Woman Member of Parliament said that 80% of the TB referral in kabale hospital is from Rukungiri.
She said there is need to allocate resources at all levels together
with personnel, and revamp the infrastructure and equipment. “This
requires serious equipment, multi-drug resistant TB isolation wards,
X-ray machines, gene X-pert machines and other crucial laboratory
supplies”.
The District health Officer Rukungiri district Akasiima Mucunguzi said
that most of the equipments used in testing Tb are expensive and
cannot be got on the local market, thus calling on government to purchase some and put them in health centers so as to fight TB.
“if we can have these machines in as low as health centers to test
everyone because sending the tests to other laboratories is a big
challenge” he said.

He adds, “Most patients remain undetected due to lack of awareness,
poor health seeking behavior, inadequate diagnosis such as
non-functional x-ray machines, limited capacity of health workers and
lack of a patient-tracking mechanism.

Hon. Beatrice Rwakimari the woman Member of Parliament Ntungamo
District said “In addition, the public should avoid self-medication
and develop the behavior of always consulting a physician”.

She said that the general public should not stigmatize TB patients
because it’s a curable disease but should advise them to adhere and
complete their treatment.
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