Today, Uganda joins the world in observing the World Tuberculosis Day. World Tuberculosis Day is a worldwide event that aims at raising public awareness of tuberculosis and the efforts made to prevent and treat this disease. Events will be marked in Kyenjojo under the theme: "Unite to End TB."
According to the Ministry of Health, Uganda has an estimated 90,000 TB cases of which about 60% are co-infected with HIV AIDS. The 2010 Global WHO Report ranked Uganda 16th among the 22 TB high burden countries.
TB is an airborne infectious disease usually caused by a bacterium that generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections do not have symptoms, known as latent tuberculosis.
About 10% of latent infections progress to active disease which, if left untreated kills about half of those infected. The classic symptoms of active TB are a chronic cough with blood-containing sputum, fever, night sweats, and weight loss.
People with latent TB do not spread the disease. Prevention of TB involves screening those at high risk, early detection and treatment of cases, and vaccination. Those at high risk include household, workplace, and social contacts of people with active TB. Treatment requires the use of multiple antibiotics over a long period of time. TB is a treatable and curable disease.
About one-third of the world's population has latent TB. Tuberculosis is particularly difficult to diagnose in children.
We wish all TB patients in Uganda a quick recovery.