Tuberculosis

The launch will happened in Port Moresby and Lae respectively on Saturday to commemorate World TB Day which falls on Friday.  

AFL PNG has partnered with World Vision PNG to do more awareness to stop the spread of TB and eventually eliminate TB in the country in the near future.

“Sport has a universal appeal and AFL PNG understands this appeal can be a real tool to influence its program participant’s decision making to create positive outcomes in their lives,” AFLPNG stated in a statement.  

Members of the Australia-PNG Business Community, with support from the Australian Government and World Vision, launched the Businesses for Health: Tuberculosis or B4H:TB Project in Port Moresby.

Businesses 4Health: TB Project seeks support for the National Department of Health’s efforts to end the TB epidemic and reduce the high rates of drug resistant TB, particularly in the National Capital District (NCD). Around 20 percent (more than 6000 of the nearly 30,000) new TB infections in PNG were detected in NCD in 2015.

In Papua New Guinea, statistics from the health department reveal that about 30 000 people are infected with TB every year.

Out of the 30,000 people, 7,000 children are children and about 10 percent of them may die from the disease and many more are left with permanent conditions like chronic breathing or brain damage.

PNG Paediatric Society (PNGPS) president, Dr Henry Welch said with a high number of children affected, parents must keep a close watch on their kids for TB symptoms and get immediate medical help.

Animal Brain Association members nabbed by police

http://www.looppng.com/content/animal-brain-association-members-nabbed-police

​Forty youths aged between 18 and 21 were caught drinking today along the airport’s back road where the construction of the LNG road is taking place.

WHO: Quick response needed for TB epidemic

It said while there can be no quick fix, work was being done to try and control the problem.

Deputy Secretary for the Department of Health Dr Paison Dakulala said mobile testing will be carried out to diagnose people quickly and administer treatment.    

“Mobile diagnostics testing will be carried out in Daru.

“We are moving into active screening. Before we were challenged because we did not have the capacity to screen and hold persons on medication till cure.

He added that the Daru Basic Management Unit is a center of excellence to test people with TB.

This funding will be used by the National TB program to strengthen activities they have in Daru.

TB Manager Dr Paul Aiya says the TB situation on Daru is unfortunate but they are doing all they can to help cure people.

He says the money will be used to strengthen the TB ward at the Daru General Hospital as it is currently overcrowded.

The TB response team in Daru have set up four treatment posts through communities to make treatment closer and more accessible to people.

The six month health blitz, conducted with local health workers, Seventh Day Adventist Health and World Vision International, detected 51 new tuberculosis cases and two new HIV cases.

Papua New Guinea has one of the world’s highest TB rates. According to the World Health Organization, 437 people in 100,000 have the disease. Of those, 14 per cent are also HIV positive.

TB patients must complete a six-month course of medication, making access to drugs and proper supervision vital to tackling the disease.

Currently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a “short-course” TB combination therapy
that includes a full 6 months treatment with rifampicin. The combination therapy often includes bulky
tablets and can cause severe nausea and other side effects.