As part of the celebration of World Tuberculosis Day, WHO, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Togo, brought together media representatives this Friday, March 24, 2023, in Lomé for a briefing on the situation of tuberculosis on behalf of the year 2022 in Togo.
It emerges from this meeting that approximately 2,500 to 3,000 cases are detected in Togo. For information, tuberculosis is an infectious disease which is caused by a microbe called the micro bacterium tuberculosiste or Koch’s bacillus. It is a disease that preferentially attacks the lungs. What makes the master symptom is the cough. But beyond that, it can attack the other organs of the human body.
According to Mohammed Fall, medical epidemiologist and coordinator of the National Tuberculosis Control Program (PNLT), the number of patients who recover from tuberculosis is 86 to 90%.
“We detect about 2,500 to 3,000 cases of tuberculosis per year in Togo. And among this number screened, we have a percentage of 8% who die from it. But what is interesting to underline is that with this number there are 86 to 90% are treated and are cured”, specified the epidemiologist doctor.
He recalled that the treatment of the disease which is also free consists of taking tablets with biological monitoring for 6 months and at the end the patient is declared cured. “We have understood that alone in hospitals and in our care centers, we cannot overcome this disease. And what we want is a collective work and we ask the media to share the right information which is that this disease exists, and which is that this disease is curable, and which is that in Togo, the diagnosis and support is free,” he added.
In addition, the PNLT coordinator indicated that Togo has made progress which comforts the actors to do better in the fight against tuberculosis because “today, in Togo, the technical platform has been improved for the diagnosis tuberculosis. There was also the establishment of training for technicians, actors in the fight against tuberculosis to enable the provision of quality care to the population”.
He also urged the population to go get tested and to follow the regular intake of medication for the 6 months when you are under treatment in order to prevent the microbes from resisting the treatment.
It should be noted that the mode of transmission of this disease is the air route (cough or sneeze).
Christian Palley