Angola records fifty thousand cases of tuberculosis

FILE PHOTO: Clinical lead Doctor Al Story points to an x-ray showing a pair of lungs infected with TB (tuberculosis) during an interview with Reuters on board the mobile X-ray unit screening for TB in Ladbroke Grove in London January 27, 2014. The only mobile unit testing for TB in the country works with the most vulnerable to the disease including the homeless, drug and alcohol dependent. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor/File Photo

Source: X01981

The Angolan secretary of state for public health said on Wednesday that over fifty thousand cases of tuberculosis had been recorded in the Central African nation from January to September of 2023.

Over three thousand of the recorded cases are children under the age of 15 and another three thousand cases of tuberculosis and HIV co-infection, said the secretary at a national meeting.

“The Ministry of Health is investing in growing the tuberculosis service network, which increased from 289 units in 2018 to 355 units in 2022, to limit and reduce instances during the same time frame. The number of municipalities that can identify and manage cases of tuberculosis has increased from 111 to 155. The 18 provinces in the nation are equipped to diagnose tuberculosis that is resistant to drugs,” he is quoted by local media Angop.

“Together we can guarantee sustainability in early diagnosis and timely and uninterrupted treatment to put an end to the disease,” he added.

Last year, the Central African country also reported close to seventy thousand cases of tuberculosis in all of its types, reports Angop.

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Edward Sakyi [email protected]