Tuberculosis Test Camp

Tuberculosis (TB) is contagious and airborne – one of the world’s deadliest bacteria caused infectious diseases. TB is a potentially serious infectious disease that mainly affects the lungs. TB can also affect other parts of your body, including the kidneys, spine or brain.

TB is spread from person to person through the air. When people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit, they propel the TB germs into the air. A person needs to inhale only a few of these germs to become infected.  Delays in treatment and cure results in faster and greater transmission of the bacteria to others. Signs and symptoms of active TB include: chronic Coughing, Coughing up blood or mucus, Chest pain, Fatigue, Fever, Night sweats, Chills, Loss of appetite and weight loss.

Over 95% of cases and deaths are in developing countries. Every day in Nepal, around 15 people lose their lives to TB, and over 180 people fall ill with this preventable and curable disease. An estimated 69,000 people fell ill with TB in 2018. Around one hundred and seventeen thousand, 117,000 people with TB disease are living in Nepal today and the national prevalence is 416 per 100,000 population. The proportion is higher among women, working-age group, rural, mountains and poor groups. This is of great concern and access to care in such areas among vulnerable groups needs to be greatly improved at the earliest.

Early detection and quality treatment of TB to prevent further infection spread is more critical because only about 50% of those that fall ill are voluntarily identified in Nepal.  Screening with diagnostic tools such as chest X-ray and roll out of Xpert MTB/RIF tests, community awareness and contact tracing is urgently required in rural Nepal.

Tuberculosis is curable and preventable. Ending the TB epidemic by 2030 is among the health targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Hopefully, volunteer groups running tuberculosis test camps will help turn the tide in Nepal’s battle with Tuberculosis.