Lodwar – December 13th, 2023 (Public Communications and Media Relations)

The Tuberculosis (TB) Program in Turkana has intensified efforts to trace patients who have been lost to follow-up, aiming to ensure they resume their medication and improve treatment outcomes.

During a data review meeting for the past three quarters, supported by USAID Tamatisha TB, considered a high TB burden county—reported that 12% of its TB patients, approximately 78 had been lost to follow-up.

The County Government as of November 30, 2024, the program had enrolled 3,074 new TB patients.

To further enhance access to treatment, the county plans to open additional treatment sites. One of the new facilities in the pipeline is the Lomil Dispensary, which will increase the total number of sites to 85 across the county.

The Program is also emphasizing the importance of reporting Serious Adverse Drug Reactions (SADRs); which is currently under-reported.

According to Dr. Job Okemwa, the County Coordinator of TB, Leprosy, and Lung Diseases, “Timely reporting of SADRs by health workers is critical to addressing side effects that might otherwise discourage patients from adhering to their medication”.

To address this issue, Community Health Promoters will play a key role in tracing these patients, particularly those in cross-border areas and in populated towns such as Lodwar.

Additionally, there are plans to intensify community-level TB case finding, which currently stands at 39.5%.

The USAID funded program, implemented by Centre for Health Solutions, will be supporting such activities.

The data review meeting was attended by key members of the County Health Management Team, sub-county TB, laboratory and pharmacy officers.