18/11/2020
Regional News.
Kampala, Uganda.
Uganda Stop TB Partnership and the Uganda
Country Coordinating Mechanism of the Global Fund Conducted Elections of the TB Constituency at Hotel Africana Kampala.
The event had both virtual and actual attendance. The occasion was graced by the WHO Global Civil Society Task Force Member from Geneva and Executive Director of KUBORESHA-AFRICA Limited Prophet Roger Paul Kamugasha who applauded the TB Constituency for their tireless efforts that have led to TB achieving milestones at the national and global levels like representation at the CCM Board and having the first United Nations High Level Meeting in New York that had TB as a decision point in the history of the disease.
Roger Paul emphasized the need to have many civil society organizations working on TB (Tuberculosis) at the national and sub national levels in Uganda.
He cautioned key stakeholders on ensuring that COVID-19 does not negatively impact on TB service delivery but the two diseases be integrated to create double focus for both diseases as they have similar symptoms.
The elections involved nomination to fill two positions at the CCM Board that included the Substantive and Alternate Board Members.
The outgoing Substantive Board Member Mr Robert Nakibumba hailed the TB Constituency for their mandate that allowed him to serve two terms and welcomed the new Members.
The two newly elected Board Members included Dr Joseph Kawuma as Substantive Board Member and Ms Allen Kuteesa as Alternative Board Member.
TB disease remains a global problem, impacting significantly on socio-economic development of countries, especially in Sub --Saharan Africa. Uganda is among the 30 high TB/HIV burden countries with an estimated TB incidence of 200/100,000 population (WHO Global TB Report, 2019).
While the Ministry of Health National TB and Leprosy Division Strategic Plan aimed at increasing treatment coverage to ore than 90% of the estimated incident TB cases by 2016/17 TB case notifications had stagnated around 60% for over five years, implying that a significant proportion of TB cases are missed.
Similarly, the national TB treatment success rate (TSR) has stagnated for years at about 72%, below the National Strategic Plan target of 85% (MoH 2018/19 annual report). Loss to follow up of 13% and death of 8% remain the highest contributors of poor treatment outcomes.