Jamaican News

Community Members Attend Training Session on TB

The Kingston and St. Andrew (KSA) Health Services observed World Tuberculosis (TB) Day on March 24 with a training session for community members.

Just under 30 persons, comprising Community Health Aides and community leaders from vulnerable communities (areas with cases of TB), attended the session. which was held at the Edna Manley Clinic on Grants Pen Road in St. Andrew.

Member of the United African Community Group in the Franklyn Town Community, Kresten Stewart, who participated in the training, said she learned much from the session and was now energised to go back to her community to spread the word.

“I believe that many persons are really ignorant to what TB is.

I have learned quite a bit about it, and I am anxious to return to my community to dispel some of the myths that surround it,” she said. Ms. Stewart outlined some of the things that she learned about TB.

“It is an infectious airborne bacterial disease, and it mostly affects the lungs. Persons who are around an infected person over an extended period of time are more susceptible to the disease. If you suspect that someone has it, the person can be sent to the National Chest Hospital to have the relevant test done and be treated if diagnosed,” she explained.

Senior Health Education Officer with the KSA and organiser of the training session, Mrs. Olive Scott, said connections with the community members were organised through consultation with the Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP).

She noted that a review of the day indicates that the session was beneficial to the participants and pointed out that if you can help persons to practise preventive measures, you would have achieved something.

Active pulmonary TB is the airborne communicable form of the disease and can be contracted when the bacteria is inhaled over time. The disease can be contracted if an infected person coughs, sneezes or spits and the bacteria gets dispersed in the air and is inhaled by another.

Some of the symptoms of Active Pulmonary TB are chronic cough persisting for more than two weeks, especially accompanied by blood, fever, weight loss and night sweats.

Article by: Peta-gay Hodges
Photo from: www.jis.gov.jm

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