BY SIBUSISEKILE NDLANGAMANDLA
MANZINI– Eswatini is taking tuberculosis screening directly to high-burden and hard-to-reach communities to identify cases earlier and link patients to treatment.
National TB-HIV Services Coordinator Similo Simelane said community-based screening has become an important part of the National TB Control Programme’s active case-finding efforts.
He said the approach targets people who may have TB but do not realise that they have the disease. Simelane said conventional screening relies heavily on symptoms such as coughing, night sweats, fever and unexplained weight loss.
some people with TB may not report these symptoms despite having the disease. To close this gap, the Ministry of Health has introduced chest X-ray-based TB screening supported by computer-aided detection technology.
Simelane said the approach started being implemented around August last year and has since been taken into communities across the country. Screening activities are being conducted in communities with a high TB burden and in hard-to-reach areas.
The programme also takes screening to national and community events, including places where large numbers of people can be reached. Simelane said active case finding provides an opportunity to identify people who may otherwise remain undiagnosed if health teams simply wait for them to become sick and seek care.
He said this is important because many people who die from TB present late for treatment. Early detection allows people with suspected TB to undergo further diagnostic assessment and, where confirmed, begin appropriate treatment.
It can also help reduce transmission because people with active TB may spread the disease through the air before receiving treatment. Simelane said taking screening services into communities therefore benefits both individuals and the wider population.
The expansion of community-based screening forms part of Eswatini’s broader efforts to strengthen TB detection and move the country closer to its goal of ending TB by 2055.
#EswatiniPositiveNews #EPN #Tuberculosis #TB #Health #CommunityScreening #EndTB
