Dimapur, Nov. 18 (EMN): A sensitisation workshop on tuberculosis (TB) was held on November 15 at Rongmei community hall in Naga Bazaar, Kohima.
An update informed that the programme was organised by ARK Foundation in partnership with Naga Bazaar Youth Organisation (NBYO) and supported by the National TB Elimination Program (NTEP).
The workshop was held with an objective to build a concerted effort towards tuberculosis elimination in the state.
Resource person and president of ARK Foundation, Ketho Angami, stated that TB has been in existence since centuries.
“Unfortunately many people have succumbed to the disease but many have also recovered from the free treatment provided by the government. However, the larger community still is very much ignorant about the disease, making it difficult to response to this public health threat,” Ketho said. He stated that it has resulted in fear against TB and stigmatisation among the community.
Ketho stated that TB is an infectious airborne disease caused by the Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MTB) and that MTB is a kind of bacteria.
“It is transmitted through the air when someone who is infected with active TB coughs, sneezes, shouts or sings, as droplets of saliva contain thousands of TB bacilli,” he said.
Once inhaled, the droplets push their way into the lungs and start to make the person sick, Ketho said and added that though TB infection mostly affects lungs, it can also affect any part of the body.
TB is preventable in many similar lines with that of Covid-19, such as hand washing, sanitising, and social distancing, he said.
Sharing on signs and symptoms of TB, the resource person also stated that people with an immunosuppressant health condition such as diabetes, hypertension, HIV, illicit drugs and alcohol use are at a higher risk of getting TB.
He further highlighted about the different kinds of TB such as drug sensitive TB, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), extensively drug resistant TB (XDR-TB), and added that basing on the type of the TB, treatment is being provided by the government.