Badili lab opens door for more people to seek treatment for TB

By LULU MARK and DALE LUMA
More people receive treatment for tuberculosis when clinics in their communities are fully equipped with staff and equipment, says Badili Clinic manager Sr Tina Peter.
She said the number of patients going to the clinic had increased since the establishment of the TB laboratory in 2017.
“Without the lab, the turnaround time for the sputum sample was poor because we had to wait for around two weeks to get results from the main hospital,” Peter said.
Turnaround is the length of time from the date on which the sputum sample is sent to the laboratory until the date of obtaining the result.
Peter said treatment could not start without confirming that the TB bacillus was in the body, and for someone who actually had TB to wait was not good.
Therefore, the clinic turned one of its rooms into a laboratory with funding support from Australia, National Capital District Health and National Department of Health
“The lab has enabled us to test and treat,” Peter said.
“We are working faster and helping so many people. TB patients should access treatment at the clinic nearest to where they live.
“However, we have patients coming to Badili clinic from all over the city and even Central.”
She said a lot of children were on the TB treatment programme.
Peter said children under five could be put on TB prevention therapy if older members of their family were infected.
She said it was important for adults to quickly get to the TB clinic when the signs and symptoms of TB were recognised, to save the children from getting it.
“The volunteers engaged in the clinic’s TB programme have played a crucial role,” Peter said.
She said the volunteers have been trained to help TB patients care and manage theoir treatment.
Badili Clinic took part in the Business for Health-organised TB Street Festival on Friday leading up to World TB Day yesterday.
Meanwhile, to mark World TB Day, World Vision and NCD Health launched a TB treatment site at Kipo Settlement in Port Moresby on Friday.
The site is called the directly-observed treatment and is part of a community based-programme aimed at reducing TB in the community.
The treatment site is one of 27 created by World Vision in different locations in Moresby North-East.
It is part of World Vision’s project called National Capital District Accelerated Response for Tuberculosis (NCD Art) and is funded by the Australian government.
Other teams from World Vision conducted TB awareness at the Buk Bilong Pikinini School at 6-Mile and at the TB Street Festival event held outside Grand Papua Hotel, in downtown Port Moresby.