Specialist laments needless deaths to curable TB
THATO RAMAFU
Maseru – The National AIDS Commission (NAC) is holding a second quarter 2019 Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s) Coordination, Communication and Advocacy Workshop for two days (13th to 14th August) at Tribute Quest house.
NAC’s Communications and Advocacy Manager Teboho Mohlabi said the objectives for this workshop are programmes updates from NAC and CSOs, TB & HIV Co-infection and how it affects children, Index Testing & Partner notification, Advocacy, and stimulating relations with media as part of efforts in the HIV/AIDS response towards an AIDS-free Lesotho.
Speaking at this gathering Dr Samson Lanje, Senior TB/HIV Advisor EGPAF-Lesotho, said as long as we live and breathe we are prone to acquiring TB.
“There is about 10 million people who have TB but not all of them have been put under treatment, unfortunately, and it is not just a problem of having TB but the problem goes further to TB causing death.
“Four days ago, we were at the ministry of health where part of our team that is engaged in a study on HIV disease showed 87% of the cause of death in those who have died was TB. It is sad to be saving lives from HIV and losing them to a disease that is not only preventable but also treatable should we fail at efforts to prevent it,” Lanje said.
He added it is not just preventing getting TB that’s important but also preventing TB from developing into a disease and urged everyone to take care of their health because the sad truth is that even though TB is curable it reduces one’s life expectancy.
