New TB project

By OGIA MIAMEL
A PROJECT has been launched at the Port Moresby General Hospital to make tuberculosis (TB) medication more child-friendly and allow parents to easily manage their children until they are fully recovered.
Department of Health disease control surveillance manager Dr Lucy John said PNG was the fourth country to introduce the medication.
It will be used in the next 12 months to test the strength of the children TB programme in the country.
John said the medicine for children was easier to swallow and dissolved easily in water.
It comes in different flavours so that children can easily take them.
She said the project would track the difficulties and challenges encountered in the TB DOTS programme so that they could be addressed. Australian High Commission Counsellor Christine Sturrock said about 7000 children in PNG contracted TB every year. Many have been permanently disabled with breathing difficulties or damage to the brain.
“This should not be the case. TB is curable. We are pleased to say the child TB project which is been funded with K542,000 by the Australian government aims to directly assist a child with TB.”
She said the child-friendly TB medication would help in decreasing TB in PNG.
“This medication will not only cure children but also prevent the disease from spreading,” she said.
PNG Paediatric Society president Dr Henry Welch said the project would focus on children and support programmes which would assist a child to successfully complete TB treatment.