Reported by By Brown Mdalla:
National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Elimination Program (NTLEP) says, it is committed at ensuring the reduction of TB cases among children.
NTLEP which has locally intensified the fight against not TB and Leprosy also says it is doing everything possible to end the bacterial infection among both adults and children. The organization stresses that, it is currently running a campaign aimed at eradicating the infection.
The institution says, for along time the number of adults diagnized with the bacterial infection hasbeen higher than children.
The institution therefore says it is determined to ensure that the war against the infection is won both in adults and children.
In a questionnaire response NTLEP official Samuel Chirwa said, Malawi is currently making undoubted success in TB fight both in children and adults and is determined to keep records low.
While admitting that TB cases among elders are higher than in children, the institution is doing everything possible to ensure that TB cases among adults are also reduced.
“Globally, in 2022, it was estimated that 1.25 million children and young adolescents between 0-14 years old, suffered from TB, but only 51 percent were diagnosed with TB or not reported to national TB programs.
“On the other hand Malawi has made tremendous progress in the fight against TB. Despite this success, there are several programmatic areas that require strengthening including Childhood TB. In 2023 Malawi reported 1,338 cases of childhood TB representing 7 percent of all TB cases against the target for Malawi from 2024 to 2027 which is 12 percent per year,” explains Chirwa.
Though a few number of children are diagnosed with the infection, Chirwa says, signs and symptoms of the infection are common among children and adults which health officers should understand.
Chirwa says children believed to be suffering from the TB usually have persistent cough which doesn’t not respond to medication, they also have fevers, lose weight and experience night sweats.
He however says, most children believed suffering from TB also develop pneumonia especially among those less than 5 years old which he says leads to malnutrition.
The TB officer however, admits that it is difficult the to test children for TB because its hard for them to give sputum samples.
He says the difficult part in testing children for TB comes in because the young ones usually swallow sputum which eventually goes into the digestive system.
He therefore says in such scenarios health officials are expected to test stools that contain the swallowed sputum.
Chirwa emphasizes that the Ministry of health has therefore dedicated its efforts at fighting TB fighting among both adults and children to come up with a free TB nation by 2030.
Chirwa has therefore urged parents and guardians to pay special attention to caughing children suspecting that some of the coughs might lead to TB diagnisis.
TB is one of the killer diseases which the Malawi government through NTLEP is determined to completely wipe out by 2030.
