Dr. Lynda Foray, Program Manager in the Ministry of Health and sanitation said Sierra Leone is considered as one of the highest TB burden countries with 169 patients treated for sensitive tuberculosis and 125 registered for drug-resistant tuberculosis in 2018.
She said TB is real and every year, it claims the life of more than 3000 people in Sierra Leone but that it is preventable and curable.
Dr. Alpha Wurie, Minister of Health and Sanitation stated that a country’s development depends on its human resources. He said the Ministry of Health and Sanitation’s long term goal is to see a free tuberculosis country by 2030.
He went on that digital X-ray machines are installed at district facility levels including Bo, Bombali, Port Loko, Kono, Kailahun and Bonthe districts with such facilities patients can do their test.
She said majority of patients are males with 1.4 percent being children under five years, 97 percent were treated using shorter regimen based on culture and drug sensitivity testing.
