Why Kenya still shoulders high TB burden

Submitted by Henry Neondo (henry) about 1 year ago

Kenya achieved medium term targets of Tuberculosis control in 2006. This means that the country can detect 70 percent of TB infections and cure 85 percent of the detected cases, making Kenya’s programme-based approach one of the best in Africa.

But despite this otherwise impressive record, TB is still one of Kenya’s major public health problems , with the country being ranked 13th in the 22 high burden TB countries in the world.

Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB), a more recent development, continues to pose an increasing health risk.

According to Dr Jeremiah Chakaya, a leading TB expert and Director of the Kenya Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (KAPTLD) based in Nairobi, “there are five first line anti-TB drugs used in Kenya, namely Streptomycin, Isoniazid, Rifampicin, Pyrazinamide and Ethambutol. In some countries, Thiacetazone is used but in Kenya we do not used it because of toxic effects on people who are co-infected with TB and Aids, which is about 50 percent.”

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Keywords: AIDS TB

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