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Ministry notes notable dip in TB/HIV co-infection rate
Junior Minister of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings
Tuberculosis [TB] control in Guyana continues to be laced with challenges and one of the most critical is the HIV epidemic within the population.
This challenge, Junior Minister of Public Health, Dr. Karen Cummings, said, has been identified as one of the biggest concerns and underlying cause of the increase of both TB morbidity and mortality.
But according to Dr. Cummings, although HIV was fuelling the TB epidemic in 2018 the TB/HIV co-infection rate was 16 percent. “This is a very good indication that the co-infection rate is also on the decline as it was consistently higher than 20 percent for over 10 years,” said Dr. Cummings.
She revealed that currently the TB and HIV programmes are working on scaling up the Isoniazid Preventative Therapy in persons living with HIV and both programmes have been involved in several trainings covering different levels of health care providers.
Added to this, the Minister said that there is joint planning between the TB and HIV programmes along with collaborative committee meetings which were established over the years.
The Minister,s remarks were made as World TB Day was observed on Sunday last [March 24]. She said that over the past years the TB epidemic has shown some form of stability with its incidence on the decline.
In 2018, for instance, the TB incidence was 69 per 100,000 population. This decline, Minister Cummings said, is also noticeable in the prisons where in 2018 only eight new cases were detected.
“This is indeed the lowest number of new TB cases recorded in 19 years. It is a direct reflection of the commitment of the Ministry in combating this disease in key populations.”
Minister Cummings said that infected inmates are isolated and treated using the Direct Observation Treatment Strategy [DOTS].
“It is important to note that DOTS has been implemented in all the correctional facilities in Guyana and the 2017 cohort of TB patients in the prison had a 91 percent treatment success rate,” the Minister shared.
She disclosed that the team at the National TB Programme works in close collaboration with the medical staff of the prisons and other TB staff in the regions to conduct screening and TB clinics at all of the prisons in Guyana.
“There is a joint team effort established with the HIV programme to conduct clinics in the prisons,” the Minister said.
But according to the Health Minister, despite the gains made and the fact that it is curable, TB continues to be listed as the top infectious killer worldwide, claiming over 4,500 lives daily. According to the Minister, the emergence of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) poses a major health threat and could put at risk the gains made in efforts to end TB worldwide.
Anti-TB medicines have been used for decades, Dr. Cummings said, adding that strains that are resistant to one or more of the medicines have been identified across the world. Drug resistance emerges when there is poor quality drugs, patients stop treatment prematurely; anti-TB medicines are used inappropriately and through incorrect prescriptions.
Moreover, here in Guyana TB has been identified as a priority health problem. In this regard the Public Health Ministry through its National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) has been calling on persons to become more involved in the fight against TB by educating themselves about the disease and to assist in raising awareness among others.
Through its Directly Observed Treatment (DOT) programme, the NTP is fully committed to working with all relevant stakeholders to enhance the DOTS programme by particularly expanding and strengthening the Community DOTS Initiative in the hinterland regions.
This tactical move, according to Dr. Cummings, “will definitely boost the fight against TB countrywide.”
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