Kigezi crumbles under weight of high TB cases

Authorities in Kigezi have said cases of tuberculosis (TB) are still high in the sub-region despite several interventions by the government and development partners to contain the disease.
The authorities highlight poor health-seeking behaviour, poor living conditions, alcoholism and cultural practices such as sharing of drinks using one vessel as some of the causes.
On Thursday, Kabale District TB coordinator Geoffrey Nkurunziza said they have asked the Ministry of Health to provide them with more preventive drugs.
“The number of TB patients in Kabale has increased from 129 as recorded during the July-September 2023 quarter to 178 as of the July-September 2024 quarter,” Mr Nkurunziza said.
“Some of the driving factors are malnutrition among children and patients with chronic diseases,” he added.Mr Nkurunziza explained that more funding will increase the screening of all patients at health centres and in the communities using village health teams (VHTs).
In Kisoro, the district TB coordinator, Mr Vittorino Mugisha, said they have registered a slight increase in the number of patients with the disease and attributed it to the increased screening services at the different health centres and vigilance of VHTs.
He added that the major causes of the disease in his district are smoking, alcoholism, cultural practices and diseases such as HIV/Aids, diabetes and hypertension.
“During the July-September 2024 quarter, the TB cases increased to 95 from 88 in July – September 2023 quarter,” Mr Mugisha said.
“Training health workers and VHTs on handling TB patients, providing masks to patients to prevent the spread of the disease, enrolling patients on drugs, health education, using security officials to handle stubborn patients who resist taking drugs, and counselling are some of the interventions being put in place,” he added.
In Rubanda District, while the cases have reduced, the number of TB patients is still high.
“In 2022, we registered 258 cases of TB; in 2023, the number of patients reduced to 214 and this year, we have so far registered 142 cases,” the district TB coordinator, Mr Benjamin Tumushabe, said.
Some of the interventions to stop the spread of the disease in the district include active screening at health centres and communities and contact tracing.
Of the 100 TB patients in the district, 37 also have HIV/Aids. “Men are mostly affected by TB compared to women because of their poor health-seeking behaviour,” the Rubanda TB coordinator, Mr Benjamin Tumushabe, said.
The Rukiga District TB coordinator, Mr Alauterio Twinokwesiga, said from October 2022 to September 2023, they recorded 180 cases and the detection rate was at 78.6 percent. From October 2023 to October 2024, they recorded 194 cases, with a detection rate of 95.7 percent.
He said some of the contributing factors include late diagnosis of the disease, poor adherence to treatment, inadequate funding for contact tracing, alcoholism, smoking and poor adherence to antiretroviral therapy for HIV/Aids patients.
“Some of the interventions put in place to curb the disease include encouraging facility-in-charges to include TB community activities in their work plans to reduce the gap of donor underfunding for contact tracing and follow-up of cases and attaching a village health team (VHT) member to each TB patient to monitor drug adherence and create awareness,” Mr Twinokwesiga said.
Concern 
National prevalence: According to the WHO, about 91, 000 contract TB in Uganda every year, translating to about 240 people daily.