Spotlight: Unique partnership forged to fight TB in Kenya
by Henry Neondo, HDN Key Correspondent Team, Kenya
September 2006
Kenya: A unique partnership bringing together health organisations, an advertising agency, Olgivy and Mather, and affected individuals has been forged to counter the re-emergence of tuberculosis (TB) in Kenya. Breaking with the norm, the partnership now targets spouses of TB sufferers in the home.
The Kenya National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Programme (NLTP), a government agency in charge of running TB programmes, says that this unique partnership aims to achieve three ends: ensure that patients with TB present themselves to health facilities as early as possible; diagnose or refer suspected patients; and help families manage those infected in their own homes.
According to Josephine, 48, and a nurse in Western Kenya, this is a healthy deviation from the norm. "Previous attempts have been on fighting fear among front-line health staff and [tackling] stigmatisation TB patients used to suffer at the hands of the staff and hospital management," she says.
She adds that thanks to internal campaigns within the health sector, "curtains that used to isolate TB patients from other patients in the hospital wards have fallen down".
In the meantime, a television advertisement aimed at encouraging TB patients to visit hospitals and seek treatment has seen the number of detected cases soar.
According to experts at NLTP the TB ‘ina tiba’ advert (literally meaning that TB is treatable in local Kiswahili language), has helped minimise stigma affecting TB sufferers and has seen an increasing number of them seeking not only check-ups and treatment but an improvement in adherence to treatment as well, a key component in the effective treatment of TB.
According to Dr Juma A Aluoch, a consultant and medical lecturer at the University of Nairobi, since the emergence of clear correlation between HIV and TB, there has been an increase in cases of dual stigma for both TB and HIV sufferers.
Dr J M Chakaya head of the NLTP agrees and says that many suspected TB patients are reluctant to present themselves for TB screening because they fear that they will be labelled as having AIDS if found with TB.
Participants at a medical conference at the Nairobi Hospital on the deadly intersection between HIV and TB, say that it is estimated that 50 per cent of HIV infected adults will develop TB in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is hoped that partnerships such as this forged in Kenya will help to dispel stigma for those living with TB and HIV/AIDS and will be an important component in initiatives to provide treatment and care.
Henry Neondo
HDN Key Correspondent, Kenya
Email: correspondents@hdnet.org
Web: www.healthdev.org/kc
HDN 2006
September 2006
Kenya: A unique partnership bringing together health organisations, an advertising agency, Olgivy and Mather, and affected individuals has been forged to counter the re-emergence of tuberculosis (TB) in Kenya. Breaking with the norm, the partnership now targets spouses of TB sufferers in the home.
The Kenya National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Programme (NLTP), a government agency in charge of running TB programmes, says that this unique partnership aims to achieve three ends: ensure that patients with TB present themselves to health facilities as early as possible; diagnose or refer suspected patients; and help families manage those infected in their own homes.
According to Josephine, 48, and a nurse in Western Kenya, this is a healthy deviation from the norm. "Previous attempts have been on fighting fear among front-line health staff and [tackling] stigmatisation TB patients used to suffer at the hands of the staff and hospital management," she says.
She adds that thanks to internal campaigns within the health sector, "curtains that used to isolate TB patients from other patients in the hospital wards have fallen down".
In the meantime, a television advertisement aimed at encouraging TB patients to visit hospitals and seek treatment has seen the number of detected cases soar.
According to experts at NLTP the TB ‘ina tiba’ advert (literally meaning that TB is treatable in local Kiswahili language), has helped minimise stigma affecting TB sufferers and has seen an increasing number of them seeking not only check-ups and treatment but an improvement in adherence to treatment as well, a key component in the effective treatment of TB.
According to Dr Juma A Aluoch, a consultant and medical lecturer at the University of Nairobi, since the emergence of clear correlation between HIV and TB, there has been an increase in cases of dual stigma for both TB and HIV sufferers.
Dr J M Chakaya head of the NLTP agrees and says that many suspected TB patients are reluctant to present themselves for TB screening because they fear that they will be labelled as having AIDS if found with TB.
Participants at a medical conference at the Nairobi Hospital on the deadly intersection between HIV and TB, say that it is estimated that 50 per cent of HIV infected adults will develop TB in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is hoped that partnerships such as this forged in Kenya will help to dispel stigma for those living with TB and HIV/AIDS and will be an important component in initiatives to provide treatment and care.
Henry Neondo
HDN Key Correspondent, Kenya
Email: correspondents@hdnet.org
Web: www.healthdev.org/kc
HDN 2006
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