Tuberculosis Training for CHWs

KCHP hosted a Tuberculosis training day attended by 16 community health workers (CHWs).CHWs serve as liaisons between formal healthcare structures and rural communities and are essential components of rural health education and promotion.

The training aimed to teach CHWs how to recognize possible cases of TB within their communities and the steps to follow when a case is suspected.

TB remains a major cause of illness and death worldwide, especially in Africa and Asia, killing almost 2 million people each year. In the district of Saraya, cases of TB often go untreated. In most villages, health education is limited to weekly community radio programming. The signs and symptoms of Tuberculosis— a cough that manifests for more than 15 days, fatigue, fever, night sweats, chills, loss of appetite, etc.— are unknown to the community. Many who suffer from these symptoms will never seek consultation and testing at one of the seven district health posts or the health center in the district of Saraya.

While TB is contagious, it is not very easy to catch. However, in compounds where family members sleep under the same mosquito nets, share meals from the same bowl and drinks from the same cup, the potential for the disease to spread increases. The bacteria which causes Tuberculosis, called Mycobacterium, spreads from person to person through microscopic droplets released into the air when someone with the untreated, active form of tuberculosis coughs, speaks, sneezes, spits or even laughs.

The most common strain of TB in the area can be cured by taking a combination of medications over a period of about six months. A major problem in Saraya is that many TB patients become “perdus de vue,” meaning that they are “lost from sight” and do not return to the health center to complete their course of therapy. Treatment is only available at the district health center in Saraya, which can take hours to get to by foot or by bicycle and is often totally inaccessible during the rainy season, when bush paths and wooden bridges are often ravaged by torrential rains.

CHWs were trained to host causeries (informal community discussions) about Tuberculosis to help educate the members of their communities. Ways to encourage those who exhibit the signs of TB to seek consultation were also thoroughly discussed, followed by ways to encourage TB patients to complete their course of treatment by making weekly “home visits” and aiding them in finding transportation to the district health center.

Posted by Emily