Even as a campaign is ongoing in the North West District to curb the spread of tuberculosis (TB), sources at the Mabaruma Hospital have confirmed that a 19-year-old female from the community of Tobago Hill in the area succumbed to the disease over the weekend.
Regional Health Services (RHS) officials told Stabroek News yesterday that the agency was unaware of any TB-related death but this newspaper understands that Tobago Hill resident Erline Bumbury, who had been diagnosed with the bacterial disease as early as 1997, succumbed to the aliment on Saturday at the Mabaruma Regional Hospital.
It was revealed that when she was a child, Bumbury had been treated at the hospital initially for the disease but subsequently discontinued the treatment. When she returned to the hospital for treatment, reports said, the disease was already in an advanced stage.
A source in the region stated that the authorities are “on a campaign in the region” to spread messages about the disease, including its symptoms and treatment. A team of doctors and TB specialists have been visiting Tobago Hill on a regular basis over the past few weeks and patients have been individually treated, with the stages of their contraction to the disease being taken into account.
At the moment, a week-long workshop is being conducted at Mabaruma with health workers attached medical facilities in Region One and among the issues being discussed is the prevalence of TB in the region. Hospital sources at Mabaruma said there has been a decrease in the number of patients seeking treatment, adding that this might be a result of the recent intervention by visiting health teams. The Ministry of Health (MoH) stated last month that teams had been sent to investigate the public health status of the community of Tobago Hill.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) release, Minister in the Ministry of Health Dr Bheri Ramsaran said 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 had sent in teams to investigate the public health status of the community and the Mabaruma Hospital had been instructed to increase the frequency of its 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.
Ramsaran said the MOH will vigorously pursue all reports of TB, regardless of the source. He said the MoH has a “very robust anti-Tuberculosis programme” and 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.
It was noted that almost all of the 32 households at Tobago Hill 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.
