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Namibia: Killer TB in Country
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
16 May 2008
Posted to the web 16 May 2008
Christof Maletsky
Windhoek
EIGHT cases of the deadly extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) have been confirmed in Namibia by international experts.
XDR, the worst form of TB, has seriously limited treatment options and chances of cure.
Health Minister Dr Richard Kamwi said a team of experts from South Africa and the World Health Organisation was in the country recently to assess the situation and presented their final report yesterday.
"I have already briefed the President [Hifikepunye Pohamba] and he said I must inform the nation immediately. We will do everything possible to wipe it out. Finance should not be a problem," Kamwi told a press briefing in Windhoek.
Five women and three men between the ages of 29 and 45 have been isolated at Oshakati (2), Walvis Bay (2), Katima Mulilo (1), Okahao (1), Onandjokwe (1) and Outapi (1) as the Ministry of Health and its partners have intensified efforts to curtail the deadly disease.
Relatives have little or no access to the patients, as the disease is regarded as a "threat to public health".
XDR-TB is a severe form of tuberculosis and must be treated in a hospital in order to carefully monitor treatment and ensure that the highly resistant strain does not spread to other people.
TB can usually be treated with a course of four standard, or first-line, anti-TB drugs.
However, if the drugs are misused or mismanaged, multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) develops and later progresses to extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB).
Kamwi said XDR was "very difficult to cure" but "not completely impossible, since some very limited treatment options remain".
Government has started buying the medicine in large amounts and infection control measures in all TB wards of hospitals will be considerably strengthened over the coming weeks.
"The public will notice some stringent measures of infection control in our health institutions to prevent the spread of the more serious forms of TB," he said.
Renovations and altering of some of Government's main TB wards, including the Katutura and Oshakati State hospitals, will soon start to meet international standards for patient isolation and infection control.
According to Kamwi, a selected group of doctors will soon be trained on how to manage XDR-TB cases. Once trained,they will be sent to regional hospitals. Kamwi said President Pohamba told him that money was no problem. "The health of the people comes first.
We don't have an idea about how much the campaign will cost but saving lives is more important in this case," Kamwi said.
Last month The Namibian reported that health professionals were quietly treating some cases of the deadly strain.
Kamwi said they first needed to confirm the cases before making them public.
The Namibian had been aware of at least one case being treated at Walvis Bay since December.
Rosalia Indongo, head of the TB programme, said there were 15 241 TB cases in Namibia last year.
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Namibia has the second highest TB incidence in the world after Swaziland.
The Hardap Region had the highest incidence of TB in Namibia last year, reporting a worrying 1 294 cases per 100 000 people.
The TB situation is exacerbated by the HIV-AIDS epidemic in the country and co-infection.
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