Call for people to take ownership of fight against TB

 HEALTH Department Secretary Pasco Kase has made a public call to individuals to take responsibility of the battle against Tuberculosis (TB).
Speaking at a TB corporate dinner in Port Moresby on Monday to commemorate the efforts of those who taking part in the fight against the air-borne disease, Kase said the country had faced many challenges in addressing the disease and would continue until it reached its global target.
 “TB control in the country has always been a challenge; there is a need not only to address the underlying agents that help spread the disease  but ways to control must be looked at,” he said.
Kase outlined the importance of having better development plans such as urbanisation and zoning, saying such plans tended to contribute to underlying agents like overcrowding, contributing to the spread of the disease.
He said the key factor in controlling TB lay in direct observing treatments (DOTS) and so far the programme had been implemented in every community, organisation and government level.
“Every individual and community must support to own and control TB activities in order to address TB aggressively,” he said.
Kase urged provincial and local governments to take ownership on the implementation of the DOTS programme in all provinces because infection figures were rising every day. He said in the past five years the fight against TB had improved significantly, with more resources being committed by the government and relevant stakeholders.
He said with the increased funding and resource allocation, TB medicines and information were reaching  remote areas.