The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOH&SW) in the Gambia in collaboration with WHO and MRC joined the rest of the international Community to commemorate World Tuberculosis Day (WTBD) on the 24th March. The theme for this year was “Unite to End TB”.

As part of activities to mark this important day a Press briefing was organized for the media fraternity and attended by partners. The event was hosted by the National Leprosy and TB office in Kanifing. 

Highlighting some key achievements registered in The Gambia, Mr. Adama Jallow, Program Manager of the National Leprosy and TB Control Programme, noted that the burden of TB is significantly reducing as revealed by the Nationwide TB prevalence study. 

This he attributed to several factors including the high TB treatment success rate of 90% in the country which is higher that the WHO target of at least 85%. As part of the TB strategic plan, the program intends to reduce prevalence by at least 2% from the current 128 to 118 per 100,000 population, detect at least 95% of TB patients within 2 weeks of onset of symptoms, achieve and sustain a treatment success rate of at least 95% from a baseline of 89% in 2014 for all new patients by 2017

On behalf of the WHO Representative Dr. Charles Sagoe-Moses, the DPC Dr. Sharmila Lareef Jah, noted that although it is evident that the previously increasing trend of TB cases has been halted and the Region as a whole is observing a declining trend, it is important to achieve greater collaboration within and across governments, and with partners from civil society, com-munities, researchers, the private sector and development agencies. It is in this vein, that this year's campaign runs under the strong and action-oriented tagline "Unite to End TB”, she stressed. She highlighted key actions from the WHO End TB Strategy and re-assured gathering of WHO’s commitment to working with the Ministry of Health and other partners that to accelerate collective action to control and end the TB epidemic altogether.

The Deputy Permanent Secretary (DPS), Mr. Janko Jimbara thanked the media on behalf of the Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Hon. Omar Sey. He emphasized the crucial role of the media in health related messages and appealed to the journalists to disseminate TB messages for the benefit of the general public.

He urged journalists to be mindful when reporting and encourage them to be always objective and to have their facts right. He noted that TB technicians were always available and can always be reached for any update. He assured the reporters that people who are ill or having the symptoms will come out and seek the right treatment as the services are adequate and the media can be a useful channel to create awareness.

He finally encouraged journalists to be true partners and to continue the good work so as to reach every doorstep of our societies.

Other speakers included Dr. Sillah (MRC), who spoke on the contribution of the Childhood Tuberculosis Programme which has the overall objective of improving the diagnosis and management of children affected by TB in the Greater Banjul area. Mr. Igna-tius Baldeh, Head National Public Health Laboratory focused on the importance of laboratory services in TB control.

The WR, Dr. Charles Sagoe-Moses read the RD’s statement in a televised program which was broadcasted widely. Other sensitization activities are on-going both on national TV and radio stations and at regional level commemorations took the form of march pass, dramas and speeches by distinguish personalities.

_________________________________________________

For more information, please contact:

Mr. Momodou Gassama, Health Promotion Officer,  gassamam [at] gm.afro.who.int (gassamam[at]gm[dot]afro[dot]who[dot]int), (+220) 4462286

Mr. George. Williams, Health Information Assistant,  williamsg [at] gm.afro.who.int (williamsg[at]gm[dot]afro[dot]who[dot]int), (+220) 4462284