Everyone must join fight against TB

 “PEOPLE do not have to die because of tuberculosis (TB) – it is up to each and every one of us to work together and overcome TB.”

That is a significant message from Prime Minister Peter O’Neill on World Tuberculosis Day yesterday.

With TB affecting thousands of people in the country, O’Neill said the Government was increasing in­vestment in health­care infrastructure and staff to turn the tide against TB.

We agree with him that every citizen must do his or her part to rid our country of this dreaded disease. 

“TB is preventable and this comes down to cleanliness and hygiene for everyone. This involves simple actions that such as always covering your mouth when you cough and always wash your hands,” he said. “I call on people who chew buai to be respectful of others and do not spit in public places. TB can be easily spread by people who spit – so I ask you to respect other people in your community and not do this.”

O’Neill urged people to help their relatives who are taking TB medicine to ensure they take their full course of drugs. “If you do not take your full course of medicine, even if you think you are feeling better, you risk becoming drug resistant.”

While the Prime Minister and health authorities are concerned about TB patients absconding from taking their medicines, there is another concern about people opting for alternative remedies. 

Those in the medical profession will always be quick to alert the public against using alternative or traditional herbal remedies which have never been scientifically tested for their efficacy and effects on the human body.  

Understandably, the scientific mind will only encourage the use of that which has been methodically proven and tested to work on ailments with the least side effects.

By and large, traditional or alternative medicines used in the country are basically home-made with the use of very basic apparatus. The packaging is not as elegant as factory made products and the conditions under which they are concocted are not known and open to conjecture. The producers and promoters are heavily dependent on word of mouth testimonies of those who have been healed by using of their products. 

People have been told to be wary of these untested alternative remedies or to be quite suspicious about them, however effective they might be. 

They might not necessarily have reservations about factory made and professionally packaged drugs. Some brands have been around for a long time and have won the public’s confidence. To the simple Papua New Guinean mind, the antibiotic Amoxicillin is the panacea for a number of health conditions. 

Whether it is bought with a prescription at a certified drug store or from the street seller, it is still Amoxicillin and must work, never mind the fine print on the content.

Herein lies the danger and grave risk alluded to in a health inspectors meeting last year. The meeting was told of a rise in illegal pharmaceutical activities. The said illegal pharmaceutical activities were carried out by both illegal and legally registered companies in the country. These criminal activities include wrong labelling of drugs and counterfeit and substandard medicines.

Pharmaceutical crime poses a grave danger to public health. Falsifying medicines undermine people’s faith in the health care system, while threatening the lives of the most vulnerable members of society. The proliferation of substandard drugs or counterfeits of known brands is a clear indication of a lack of faith in the public health system or inability to access public health services.  

The easy access to drugs openly sold in shops or streets is easier and more convenient that spending hours in long queues at public health facilities.

Where traditional cures have been found to be effective, these should be vigorously promoted throughout the country so people do not resort to products that are illegally produced and falsely packaged and subject them to grave health risks .

This calls for government to strictly regulate the pharmaceutical industry and allowing only reputable companies to supply the public health system and have those supplies regularly inspected.