On World Tuberculosis Day Discussion of a strategy to combat the disease in Yemen until 2027
mohammed alghobasi
-
A group photo at the end of the event organized by the National Program for Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases Control in the capital, Sana’a
On World Tuberculosis Day Discussion of a strategy to combat the disease in Yemen until 2027
Alttebiah_Private|
The National Tuberculosis and Chest Diseases Control Program in Yemen announced the completion of the preparation of the strategic plan “2023-2027”, which aims to raise the rate of detection of tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis cases and the success of treatment to reach a tuberculosis-free Yemen.
This came in the event organized by the program in the capital, Sana’a, in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration and with the support of the Global Fund to Fight Tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria, on the occasion of World Tuberculosis Day, March 30, under the slogan “Yes, we can eliminate tuberculosis.
” During the event, the Director of the National Program, Dr. Ihab Fathi Al-Saqqaf, stressed that the program will focus in the coming period on strengthening multisectoral coordination, improving laboratories network
and activating the follow-up and evaluation system, to ensure high detection rates and strengthening ways to prevent tuberculosis, in addition to supporting workers in providing services and enhancing community awareness of the dangers of the disease and ways to prevent it.
“Tuberculosis still represents one of the health and social problems in Yemen,” al-Saqqaf said, as the infection rate is estimated at 48 new cases per 100,000 of Yemen’s population, which is classified among countries with an average infection rate.
According to the statistics of the program for the year 2022, the number of detected cases reached 10,411 cases of tuberculosis, while the number of cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis detected in the same year reached 458 cases, which is a low percentage compared to some countries, according to Dr. Al-Saqqaf, who stated that this percentage encourages the continuation of work in combating the disease in a country that has been wracked by war for more than eight years, which caused the weakening of the health system, and the delay in the arrival of medicines and laboratory solutions to Yemen.
Dr. Al-Saqqaf considered the commemoration of World Tuberculosis Day a good opportunity to mobilize efforts to increase investments in this field, pointing to the importance of implementing specific activities while accelerating procedures and multisectoral cooperation to eradicate tuberculosis. The program, with the support of the Ministry of Health, seeks to strengthen partnership with the private sector and international donors, specifically with the Global Fund to Fight Tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria, the World Health Organization and the International Organization for Migration, which would help the program play its role in reducing the consequences of tuberculosis and deaths resulting from it and its prevention.
At the event, the official spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Sana’a, Dr. Anis Al-Asbahi stressed the importance of enhancing public awareness about the global epidemic and strengthening efforts to eradicate tuberculosis, explaining that the national program to combat tuberculosis and chest diseases is primarily responsible for strategies and policies for tuberculosis control in Yemen and works on Three levels “central, governorates, directorates”.
Participants in an event marking World Tuberculosis Day in late March. Sana’a
Through these levels, the program provides diagnostic and treatment services in all governorates of the Republic, which are distributed to four main regional centers for tuberculosis control in each of Sana’a, Aden, Hodeidah and Taiz, according to Dr. Al-Asbahi.
Up to 2027, the program seeks to raise detection indicators and cure rates with the aim of reducing infection and death rates, according to the speech of the technical assistant for the tuberculosis program, Dr. Isam Mahyoub at the event that was attended by a number of specialists and consultants in chest diseases, academics and representatives of the International Organization for Migration and the International Red Cross.
The continuation of the national program in implementing its activities and exerting unremitting efforts in combating the disease was appreciated and thanked by the Director of the Global Fund Grant to Fight Tuberculosis, AIDS and Malaria at the International Organization for Migration in Yemen, Dr. Mohammad Abdi, who confirmed their readiness to provide all possible facilities in order to combat tuberculosis in Yemen.
Dr. Abdi spoke at the event, which was attended by the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Dr. Jay, about the importance of cooperation and joint coordination between the program and the relevant agencies, organizations and agencies, praising the role of the International Red Cross in cooperating with the program to implement a survey aimed at knowing the percentage of infection in prisons, treating the infected and examining contacts ad well as dispensing preventive medicines for them to limit the spread of the disease.
