SUnder the theme “Towards a national mobilization to save lives and end tuberculosis in Morocco”, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection is celebrating World Tuberculosis Day on Friday, March 25. This will be marked by the kick-off of the sixth national tuberculosis screening campaign aimed at strengthening the early diagnosis of tuberculosis and ensuring access to treatment for high-risk population groups.
Worldwide, this disease affects nearly 30,000 people every day. Moreover, this situation has been greatly accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In Morocco, a total of 29,327 cases were notified and put on treatment in 2021, as part of the National Tuberculosis Control Program (PNLAT) and it is clear that the young population, aged between 15 and 45, remains the most exposed.
For Jamaleddine Bouzidi, pulmonologist and president of the Moroccan League against Tuberculosis, “Tuberculosis is a public health problem on a universal scale. The majority of people who contract TB live in adverse conditions. This is considered to be the disease of precariousness and poverty, which is why it represents an important criterion in the ranking of countries according to the human development index. However, it is a disease that is rare in rural areas because the living conditions there are favorable and there is no overcrowding”.
To fight against tuberculosis, Dr Bouzidi insists on the need to reflect on a multidisciplinary approach. “Several departments must coordinate and fight against this social scourge by improving the living and housing conditions of the population, among other things”.
He considers that Morocco has over time made a lot of efforts in this area. “It was a pilot country in the fight against tuberculosis. In the aftermath of independence, thanks to the courageous, humane and wise decisions of the late King Mohammed V, to fight against this disease, there was the creation of provincial hospitals in all the cities of the Kingdom to treat cases of tuberculosis. But unfortunately, all these hospitals were closed years later”, he underlines.
And to continue: “There was also a dahir of the late Mohammed V on the exemption of patients with tuberculosis from all expenses related to treatment. Moreover, even now, the treatment is given free of charge but under conditions. We require that there is bacteriological and biological proof attesting to the existence of the disease”.
Previously, things were done differently. “We gave the treatment when the patient showed signs of presumption and we did what is called a therapeutic diagnosis, that is to say that we give him his treatment and we then provide follow-up. And often, it is a favorable development, because it allows on the one hand, to save people’s lives, to avoid complications and, above all, to save time, ”he explains.
The diagnosis of tuberculosis varies according to the doctor’s specialty because it is a disease that can affect all organs without exception. “We are mainly talking about 57% lung damage because the bacillus of Koch, the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, mainly affects the highest regions of the lungs, where there is the most oxygen. This can also affect other organs including the meninges, the pericardium, the genitals, the digestive system, the joints, etc., “says the specialist.
Among the symptoms, “there are what are called signs of tuberculous impregnation, in other words the 3 A’s: asthenia, weight loss, anorexia. Fever, chills, pallor, are also recurrent symptoms. Patients are often asked to do a chest X-ray, if the lesions are present, the investigations are pushed even further, but it all depends on the location of the tuberculosis”.
As a reminder, the ministry has developed the National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis 2021-2023 which aims to “Reduce the number of deaths related to tuberculosis by 60% in 2023 compared to the year 2015”. . The specific objectives are aimed at strengthening the prevention and detection of the disease, improving the rates of therapeutic success and consolidating governance and the multisectoral approach with the ministerial departments concerned, local authorities, the private sector. and civil society organizations.
Mr. Bukhari