Every year on March 24, humanity celebrates World Tuberculosis Day. In Guinea, the Conakry Reference Anti-Tuberculosis Center, located in La Carrière, in the commune of Matam, has recorded a drop in positive cases of the disease. This largest tuberculosis care center reports 71 cases recorded between October and December 2022.
According to the quarterly report consulted by a reporter from Guineematin.com, out of the 71 cases recorded at this center, 4 people have already been treated, for 0 cases of death, with 63 hospitalized.
To talk about it, our reporter gave the floor to Dr Boubacar Bah, doctor, pulmonologist in the pneumo-phtisiology department. The doctor returned to the diagnosis of the disease, the care, the stigmatization of the patients and even of the anti-tuberculosis center, among others.
Guineematin.com: On March 24 each year, humanity celebrates the day of the fight against tuberculosis, a disease that kills thousands of people around the world. You are part of the camp of those who want to eradicate this disease. What does this day represent for you?
Dr. Boubacar Bah: World Tuberculosis Day represents for us a memorable day and a truly special day for the fight against tuberculosis. As you know, tuberculosis is as our dear master, Professor Oumou Younoussa Sow, says, it is the poor old Grandmother. It is a disease which represents a public health problem taking into account the risk factors of the treatment and really of the people who are affected by this disease and especially of the contagiousness of the disease.
Guineematin.com: concerning the care of tuberculosis patients, how does the center work?
Dr. Boubacar Bah: here being the anti-tuberculosis center, the largest center that manages tuberculosis patients in the country, we are under the umbrella of the pneumo-phtisiology service and the National Tuberculosis Control Programme. It is a center that was created to manage patients in the outpatient department to relieve congestion in the pneumo-phtisiology department. So here, we receive patients who are suspected of tuberculosis. And when the sick come, we receive them, we ask them about the signs of tuberculosis and we ask for the tests to be done. And when we do the examinations, we diagnose my tuberculosis and we submit the patients to anti-tuberculosis treatment. It must be said that the diagnosis of tuberculosis pays off. But the treatment for 6 months or 1 year, the treatment is completely free. When the sick come, they are given medicine. So, in this centre, to always facilitate access to treatment for the sick, we refer the sick. There is a decentralization at the level of the national territory. Wherever the patient is, he can really access treatment, have his treatment at the same level as those who are in Conakry. So, when the patient comes, he is diagnosed with tuberculosis, we ask him where he is staying and we look at the nearest treatment centre, we refer him to that centre.
Guineematin.com: at the Carrière anti-tuberculosis centre, aren’t you in need of pharmaceutical products, equipment or work devices?
Dr. Boubacar Bah: concerning the products, there is no shortage of drugs. Because you have to know that we are not just managing tuberculosis. Tuberculosis and HIV co-infection are also managed. So, the patients who come and who have tuberculosis, before putting them on anti-tuberculosis treatment, they are first given the HIV test to find out if the HIV is positive. And if the HIV is positive, it is a tuberculosis and HIV co-infection that we take care of. We don’t only give anti-tuberculosis drugs, but also antiretroviral treatment for HIV. So, from the point of view of medicine, there is no break for the moment and the treatment is free, whether for tuberculosis or for HIV. Concerning the co-infected who must take medication for HIV, there too, the treatment is free… There are devices for diagnosing tuberculosis. Before, we did microscopy; currently, there is molecular biology. Moreover, in the national strategic plan of the program, there is a device which allows in 2 hours not only to diagnose tuberculosis but also to say if it is a sensitive tuberculosis or it is a multi-resistant tuberculosis. So it really shortens the diagnosis time and really allows the health personnel to immediately adopt an adequate treatment for the patient.
Guineematin.com: what about the statistics?
Dr. Boubacar Bah: we cannot give you the annual figures. Because we go up quarterly statistics at the level of the National Tuberculosis Control Program. But, we can say that the level is dropping…
Guineematin.com: what difficulties do you encounter?
Dr. Boubacar Bah: the difficulties we encounter are poverty. Because it is a disease of poverty. So, when people come, they don’t have a way to make the diagnosis and then, those who live far away for example, those who are not from Conakry, they come, we give them treatment. Then the other issue is stigma. Even the staff who treat tuberculosis are stigmatised, let alone the patients. When you go to health facilities, you ask, you are told to go there. So that’s the stigma. And it doesn’t say that when someone has TB they can’t eat with others or they can’t stay together. No. You just have to follow the same instructions that we give for everything. Because there are people who cough.
Guineematin.com: what advice can you give to tuberculosis patients?
Dr. Boubacar Bah: at this level, we are talking about the prophylaxis of tuberculosis. What we ask, not only of the sick, but of anyone who coughs, is to protect themselves when they cough. Either cough into the palm of your hand or into a disposable tissue and then, if it’s someone coughing and spitting, not to spit in dark places. To spit where the sun’s rays can reach the spit. Because if the sputum contains tuberculosis mycobacteria, sunlight in 5 minutes can destroy the microbe. Then, anyone who has been coughing for more than two weeks is asked to go to the health center to do sputum examinations to see if it is not tuberculosis. In general, it is to ask the populations not to always make the first recourse to the native status. Because there are some who will go to the native state or else say that it is a bad spell that has been cast on them, when they come to the level of the centers to be diagnosed, it will be found that the lungs are invaded, the patient is really tired. And there, even if he is cured of tuberculosis, he will always remain with sequelae of tuberculosis. He cannot exert himself without being dystonic. First resort, when you are sick, you have to come to the health centers to see if it is not tuberculosis. At the level of the health authorities, it is really the training of personnel. Since each time news concerning the diagnosis or the treatment arrives, it is really to upgrade the staff who have already been trained.
Interview conducted by Mohamed Guéasso DORÉ for Guineematin.com
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