It's time to end TB
26 March 2019
CAPACITY BUILDINGLABORATORIES AND TECHNICAL PLATFORMSOPERATIONAL RESEARCHSTRENGTHENING SYSTEMS AND HEALTH SERVICESFighting tuberculosis
Today Solthis joined MOH Sierra Leone in the presence of the Minister of Health, Honourable Dr. Alpha Tejan Wurie, the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Amara Jamba, the Deputy CMO: Dr. Bash Taqi, Directors in the MOH, Programme Manager NLTCP, Dr. Lynda Foray and all TB stakeholders in Sierra Leone to celebrate the World TB Day 2019. Find below the statement by Dr. Lena MATATA, Solthis project manager of the TB-Speed project.
Dr. Lena M (Project Coordinator, TB Speed), Imma C (HOM) and Abubakarr J (Lab Co, TB Speed)
Today SOLTHIS NGO joins the MOH and all of you, in making an emphatic statement ‘it's time'. As we gather here 140 years since Dr. Robert Koch made the announcement of the discovery of the TB bacterium (on 24th March 1882). It is not lost on us that we are running out of time, as TB remains the world's deadliest infectious disease killer and more-so in the presence of low immunity due to HIV, malnutrition and in the young age group.
The theme, ‘it's time' is quiet fitting in Sierra Leone, which remains one of the 30 high burden TB countries globally, with 17 169 TB cases reported in 2018, and of these 14% were in children.
It is for this reason that SOLTHIS NGO has collaborated with the NLTCP and TB partners in not only providing technical assistance for development of TB guidelines, training tools & capacity building of health care workers, but we are now also engaged in conducting TB research, with a goal of accelerating innovative and enhanced diagnosis of tuberculosis in some of the most vulnerable groups ; that is children with TB, children with TB, HIV and malnutrition. This consortium led research work, is funded by UNITAID in Sierra Leone and plus 6 other high burden TB countries in Africa and Asia.
SOLTHIS NGO remains committed to strengthening health care systems in Sierra Leone and supporting the NLTCP.
Finally. We also use ‘this time' to congratulate the NLTCP in the great strides achieved, not limited to; the launch of state-of-the-art level 3, Bio-safety laboratory, increase in gene xpert testing sites, increase in MDR TB bed capacity, and incorporating CHWs in the TB strategy. The achievements will ensure that Sierra Leone moves towards universal access to TB diagnosis and treatment, in Sierra Leone.
Launch of the TB Biosafety level 3 laboratory which will allow to undertake molecular TB diagnosis in-country
The World TB day was an occasion for Sierra leone to launch the TB Biosafety level 3 laboratory which will allow to undertake molecular TB diagnosis in-country. TB Speed project samples will also be processed in this laboratory and Solthis, through TB Speed, will support commodities/reagents, human ressources capacity building and sample archival in the laboratory.
Read more about the TB-Speed project.
