Seventy out of 100,000 people die each year in Timor-Leste as a result of tuberculosis (TB), according to calculations by the Health Ministry.
Director of Klibur Domin Joaquim F. Soares considers TB a major threat in Timor-Leste and said the government was not making enough efforts to prevent it as many people continued to die from the disease.
“It kills people in rural areas every day, but our government does not look at it,” he said after participating in ASEAN People’s Forum at the Dili Convention Center.
He acknowledged the government did not have accurate data on TB mortality rates and said the calculations was based on the number of cases identified and the number of annual deaths.
He therefore urged the government to conduct a national survey on TB so that the results can be used to help the government create a prevention program.
He also expressed concern with the sustainability of the current TB program in Timor-Leste in the event the main donor Global Fund stopped its aid as the government does not provide adequate funding for the program in the general state budget.
Klibur Domin is a local organization focusing on TB, particularly screening, health education for communities and treatment.
“We visit the family of anyone who identifies a relative who has symptoms of TB, then we take phlegm samples for testing in the laboratory. If they are positive (for TB) we provide them with treatment,” he said.
Each day 30 to 40 new TB cases are identified in rural areas including in Liquica municipality, according to Soares.
TB is an airborne disease, which is spread to others when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is completely curable if the patient receives a complete course of treatment and takes medication regularly for six months.
TB Medical Officer for the World Health Organization (WHO) Anupama Hazarika said Timor-Leste had a very good health system, with adequate doctors, medication and diagnostic facilities available to treat TB.
However, she said many patients were reluctant to access health facilities and continued to rely on traditional healers.
“It can spread more easily in overcrowded settings and cramped living conditions associated with poverty,” she said.
She said that unless a TB patient receives early and appropriate treatment, then this person would die slowly and continue to infect others during this time.
She therefore urged anyone with a chronic cough for more than two weeks to go to their nearest health center and get tested.
She said WHO’s major priority was to provide training to family health personnel and work with health promotion teams to raise awareness about TB among communities.
She said rates of multi-drug resistance TB remained low in Timor-Leste largely due to the practice at suku (village) level of having medical staff directly observe patients take their medication at health facilities.
Meanwhile, Bairo-Pite clinic’s doctor-in-charge Dan Murphy also expressed concern about the high prevalence of TB in Timor-Leste, particularly among young people.
He agreed that poverty was a major factor behind Timor’s high TB rates.
As many Timorese people continued to live in overcrowded conditions with more than 10 people in one house, he said the disease could be easily spread to others.
He said on average more than four new cases were identified at the clinic each day.
He therefore called on all relevant stakeholders to ensure that those with symptoms have access to health facilities for treatment and that communities were properly educated about the disease.
