The incidence rate for Tuberculosis (TB) is expected to drop significantly this year as the National Tuberculosis Programme has recorded the lowest figures for new cases ever for the first four months of this year.
“If this trend continues we will have an incidence rate of 68 per 100,000 population,” said Dr. Jeetendra Mohanlall, Programme Manager for the National Tuberculosis Programme in an interview with the Stabroek News.
Last year, the incidence rate was marked at 78 per 100,000 population. But TB treatment under the Directly Observed Treatment Short (DOTS) Programme has dragged that rate down. The DOTS Programme ensures case detection and treatment under supervision.
“We have never had such a low number in the first four months of a year,” Mohanlall said, noting that 152 new cases were recorded during that time.
He said there has been 90% success rate for TB treatment in prisons across the country.
In fact, he said they have recorded zero new cases in prisons for the year thus far. He said prisons are subjected to intensive screening, sometimes even cell by cell, for traces of the bacteria.
New inmates, he said, are screened upon entry to the prisons and a DOTS supervisor
