A two-day sensitization forum on the prevention and control of Tuberculosis for journalists ended yesterday at the Seaview Hotel in Kololi.

The forum, which brought together 30 journalists from different media houses, was aimed at informing and empowering journalists with the required knowledge and skills in supporting policy issues on Tuberculosis, its prevention and control in The Gambia. Deputizing for the director of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW), the assistant director, Disaster Control and Family Health, Ramou Cole, noted that globally, TB is second only to HIV/AIDS as a cause of illness and death of adults, accounting for nearly nine million cases of active disease and two million deaths every year.

Although Africa has only 11% of the world's population, noted, it accounts for more than a quarter of this global burden with an estimated 2.4 million TB cases and 540,000 TB deaths annually. In his welcoming remarks, Adama Jallow, the national programme nanager, National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Control Programme (MLTP), said that the dissemination of correct information through the media is very important in raising community awareness on TB. He noted that in recent years, MOHSW has made significant progress in the control of TB in The Gambia. "MLTP has achieved the national global target of detecting at least 70% of the estimated TB cases in The Gambia. Our case detection rate has risen from 64% in 2006 to 78% in 2008," he added.

According to him, cure rate rose from 67% in 2003 to 78% in 2008, while the treatment success rate increased from a baseline of 67% to 84% in 2008. He further said that defaulter rate is at 2% in 2008 relative to 14% in 2003, adding that for re-treatment cases, the defaulter rate is 0% for 2008. Adama noted that the multi drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) in re-treatment cases as end of 2007 remains 0%. For his part, Pa Modou Faal, the president of the Association of Health Journalists in The Gambia also noted that the media has a crucial role to play in the dissemination of TB information. He added that there is too much stigma attached to Tuberculosis.

Progrmme Manager Jallow said that there is the need to sensitize the media about the signs and symptoms of the disease, adding that health is a cross-cutting issue. "As journalists, you need to go out to make research and share the information with the public," he told the journalists.