Even as I write this article, Kenya is treating a new T.B case! Out of high-burden countries in the world, Kenya ranks 13. This sounds alarming but it is a fact we cannot hide ourselves from. T.B is known to be among the deadliest historic killer diseases and even as we "toy" with the idea of "Not only fighting it but eliminating it," we must be well prepared for it.
As the battle rages, I remember an old African saying, in its experience; the older one swallows the younger! While T.B was there long before HIV was mentioned, the two seem to have partnered to enhance their fight against their common enemy. Is the common enemy well equipped for this battle" Who is older and more experienced in this case?
Elimination of T.B may not be easy, but containing it and making it more manageable may be applicable. Recently, in Kenya, two patients in Rift valley Province were arrested for failure to adhere to their T.B medication. The two were apparently arraigned in court to answer charges from the Ministry of Public Health for posing a healthy danger to members of the public. They were later jailed to complete their treatment under supervision.
Somebody -from a distance-watching Kenya's tactics in dealing with health issues may be fascinated; a person infected with T.B is already a traumatized person. I doubt this person would adhere to the medication under such duress considering the taste, the smell and the stigma involved in the whole T.B scenario. The way I would take my T.B drugs is absolutely different from the way I would suck a piece of chocolate! Had I been asked, the health provider who prepared these patients for the eight-month treatment would have been the one to face the wrath of the Ministry of Public Health. This treatment needs a keen treatment Preparation Seminar.
However, all said and done, it is important that we change the weapons to fight T.B, from harsh penalties, threats and frightening IEC materials. Encouraging people to go for early testing would be a way for an amicable "cease fire" against T.B. But truly with the pictures drawn on bill boards and IEC anti T.B campaign materials, people would get scared of testing. This has resulted to people detecting the disease when it is too late. A pleasant picture of a person who has benefitted from the T.B drugs would encourage many people to get tested.
T.B is a major threat to People Living with HIV. In the scuffle to eliminate T.B therefore, HIV remains a key opponent. It may be reasonable to wrestle HIV down since unlike T.B we do not have it in the air! By arresting HIV, T.B will not have something to cling onto and fighting it alone may be simpler. However at it were right now, the most prudent thing to do is to fight the two enemies simultaneously.
As the World T.B day beckons, let us try to think more deeply on how to change our weapons of the fight against T.B and subsequent elimination of the scourge. Education and more intensified anti-T.B campaigns may be the harmless, not-nauseating and easy-to-apply weapons.
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