Tuberculosis or TB has become endemic in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti region as high cases of the diseases continues to be recorded at healthcare facilities.
However, health authorities in the Municipality say the COVID-19 pandemic which broke out early last year seriously affected their efforts to subdue the disease.
The Municipal Disease Control Officer, Nana Adu-Bobi, speaking to GBC’s Nicholas Osei-Wusu in an interview at Ejisu noted that even though the number of TB cases recorded at health facilities in the Municipality reduced from 57 in 2019 to 46 last year, the reduction was not because of the disease had been subdued, but suspected patients feared to report to the facilities for fear of contracting COVID-19, while the available laboratories rejected samples of the sputum sent to them also due to fear of the COVID-19 disease.
Nana Adu-Bobi urged people who are exposed to the TB disease to promptly visit the nearest hospital so as to ensure immediate treatment to guarantee cure, adding that TB is curable while the treatment is free.
