Myths around
tuberculosis, according to the clinical officer overseeing the programs in
Awerial County, Lakes State, stigmatize patients and derail treatment
initiatives.
Abraham Akuot
Dhiau-wut, clinical officer at the Arkangelo Ali Association, made this
statement after four of their patients that were enrolled for tuberculosis
medication last year went missing after receiving one-month drugs.
Tuberculosis
is an infectious disease caused by bacteria that most often affects the lungs.
It spreads through the air when people with TB cough, sneeze, or spit.
Tuberculosis is preventable and curable.
However,
completing treatment for both inactive and active TB disease can protect the
patients and people around him.
In Awerial,
many believe that it is a genetic disease.
“This has
made most of the patients who are doing treatment hide themselves when they are
diagnosed with tuberculosis,” Akuot told Mingkaman FM.
As a result
of the widespread dissemination of misinformation regarding tuberculosis, many
patients avoid taking their medication as prescribed and others even isolate
themselves from society out of shame.
“The risk is
when you fail to come back to the facility to complete the treatment, it may
develop into MDR (multidrug-resistant) tuberculosis, and it is difficult to get
its drugs here,” he continued.
Akuot
encouraged the four missing patients—three women and a man—to return to the
facility to complete the treatment to protect themselves and their families
from the bacteria.
In 2024, at
least 135 patients received tuberculosis treatment, the majority of whom
recovered.
Twenty-three
more patients were registered between January and February this year.
About a quarter of the global population is estimated to have been infected with TB bacteria, according to the WHO.
Those who are
infected but free of disease cannot transmit it. TB disease is usually treated
with antibiotics and can be fatal without treatment.