The government of Uganda needs to urgently address the rising mortality rate of people with tuberculosis (TB) in the country.

Development Diaries reports that the country’s Ministry of Health has announced that 30 out of 250 TB patients die daily.

The Director of Clinical Services at the Ministry, Dr Charles Olaro, revealed the figures during a two-day Tuberculosis and Leprosy Summit in Kampala. The summit was aimed at addressing the challenges posed by these diseases and developing effective solutions.

Uganda ranks among the 22 countries with the highest burden of TB, with an estimated incidence of 200 cases per 100,000.

Each year, approximately 91,000 people in Uganda get sick of TB, with 32 percent of them being HIV-infected, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO)

Two out of every 100 people with TB have drug-resistant TB that is not cured by first-line drugs, while approximately 15 percent of TB cases in Uganda are children aged below 14 years.

While it is commendable that the Ministry of Health’s innovative Community Awareness Screening Testing and Prevention (CAST) initiative has led to a significant increase in TB notifications, more needs to be done to reduce the prevalence of TB in the country.

Development Diaries calls on the Ugandan Ministry of Health to strengthen its efforts to provide citizens in need with immediate health assistance to address the prevalence of tuberculosis in the country.

We also urge the ministry to ramp up initiatives meant to provide treatment, especially for those who cannot afford them, to help decrease the mortality rate in the country.

Photo source: World Bank