-TB reports under close watch
In response to concerns about multiple reports of tuberculosis (TB) in the North West District community of Tobago Hill in the Mabaruma Sub-Region, the Ministry of Health (MoH) has said that teams had already been sent in to investigate the public health status of the community.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), Junior Health Minister Dr Bheri Ramsaran noted that some months ago President Bharrat Jagdeo had instructed him to pay special attention to Tobago Hill, after it was noticed that the village had experienced some difficulty. Since then, Ramsaran stated, the Health Ministry has sent in teams to investigate the public health status of the community while the Mabaruma Hospital was instructed to increase the frequency of their outreaches to the community.
During a recent visit to the region, persons in the nearby communities told this newspaper that several persons were being treated at Tobago Hill for TB and Toshao Edmond Santiago reported that a number of residents had complained of symptoms associated with TB.
He said too that he had received reports of persons in the community experiencing a gastro-like illness, with symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea being common. Stabroek News was told that two Thursdays ago a one-year-old baby from the community was rushed to the Mabaruma Public Hospital after experiencing vomiting and diarrhoea, but the child died the following day.
Ramsaran said the MOH will vigorously pursue all reports of tuberculosis (TB), regardless of the source. He stated that the MoH has a “very robust anti-Tuberculosis programme” and noted that there are community health workers who are specially trained to detect and report all suspected cases of TB at the primary healthcare level. He said that the agency will examine all concrete cases as some other diseases can mimic TB.
Tobago Hill, which is a fairly new community, has only been in existence some five years. Its 167 residents, predominantly of the Warrau tribe, were relocated from several riverain communities along the Aruka and Barima rivers.
A health worker in the region told this newspaper that during visits to the community in the past months, cases of TB were observed. And while preventative measures and dates were provided to the residents for regular visits to the hospital in the area, the affected persons have not been showing up for treatment.
It was noted that almost all of the 32 households in the small hill-top community had someone being treated for TB. Tuberculosis, a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacterium, usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body.
It is spread through the air when people who have the disease cough, sneeze, or spit. Many residents in the community once lived along the Aruka River at an area known as Soomottoo Creek while some resided at parts of the Barima River.
Over time water was encroaching their yards and most of the households had been relocating over the years to locations on higher ground along the river banks. It was after members of the New Testament Church of God visited the area and observed the plight of the residents that they approached the regional administration, which gave them the go-ahead to relocate to Tobago Hill.
