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NAMIBIA |
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Winning the War against Tuberculosis
Empty hospital beds - over 90 percent of TB patients are cured
Dr Ikandi is the chief medical officer for the Omaheke region. He looks with satisfaction at the empty beds in the TB ward which were full not so long ago. The cure rate of TB patients is now over 90 percent.
| Listen to how training health workers and community members helps to identify and cure TB patients |
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Windows Media | MP3 | Transcript |
Hospital staff did not use to always recognise TB cases, but case detection
is now on track with international health standards. In addition,
TB patients from rural areas can be discharged from hospital
early because each village has someone trained to help them take
their medicine.
Half of Dr Ikandi’s TB patients used to stop their treatment before they were cured. Thanks to community supervision now everyone stays the course. |
"Together we can fight TB"
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| Listen to children's choir singing "Together we can fight TB" |
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Windows Media | MP3 |
| Support
is vital to ensure people stay on their medication long after the
symptoms have gone, until they are cured of the disease. It requires
a good deal of encouragement from medical staff, from community carers
and from family members. The children’s choir of the Omaheke
hospital sings a song with this clear message. |
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Dr Ikandi is the chief medical officer for the Omaheke region.
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