The nationwide survey will give a better picture of the prevalence of the disease in the country. The survey is expected to start at the end of July and will be funded by USAID.
The Ministry
of Health is to carry out a survey to determine the burden of Multi-Drug
Resistant Tuberculosis(MDRTB) in the country.
The nationwide survey
will give a better picture of the prevalence of the disease in the country. The
survey is expected to start at the end of July and will be funded by USAID.
Currently, World Health Organization-WHO
statistics show that annually an estimated 1,500 people develop or are infected
with MDRTB.
Dr. Raymond Byaruhanga, a
senior technical advisor at the National Control TB and Leprosy Programme at
the Ministry of Health says the survey will give a better picture of the burden
of MDRTB.
He says current figures
on the disease are not accurate since it is believed that some cases of the
condition are not diagnosed.
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The 2020 TB Global Report
released by the WHO showed that only 33 percent of patients with MDRTB are able
to access treatment. This means around 67 percent of MDRTB cases go undetected,
which means they are not in treatment and spreading the disease to unsuspecting
people.
Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze,
the Director of Public Health at the Ministry of Health says the survey will
enable the government to plan appropriately.
"The survey will
help inform us and direct our response to the disease. At the moment we have
old data," Dr. Kyabayinze said.
The survey is also
supposed to help show where the people with the disease who do not get
treatment are. It is estimated that 1,000 Ugandans with MDRTB are not on
treatment.
