Kalangala health inspectors blamed for the rise in TB prevalence

HEALTH

Kalangala district is in panic over the rise in Tuberculosis (TB)  prevalence, as health inspectors give out medical examination certificates without testing clients.

According to the health guidelines, any person  who operates an eating place must be certified by a clinical officer after carrying out health tests, and inspected by a health inspector to authorise his services to the community.

This is aimed at controlling the spread of health related killer diseases like tuberculosis whose cure takes months.

However, the case in Kalangala is worrying. Health inspectors and parish chiefs have taken over the responsibility of clinical officers by giving out medical examination certificates to untested clients.

During the HIV annual partnership forum 2018 held at the district headquarters on Tuesday, health workers and advocates said the TB cases have in 12 months increased by 44% putting the lives of islanders at risk.

They called for an urgent intervention from the district leaders on the high rate of TB in HIV negative persons.

Ibrahim Ssenyonga of Kalangala District Non Government Organisation Forum (KADINGO) said the high rate of Tuberculosis is worrying.

"In our survey, we found out that HIV negative people  do not bother testing for tuberculosis which has accelerated the spread," said Ssennyonga.

Ssennyonga commended the concerted effort in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the islands which he said has greatly put Kalangala on the  world map, but now the challenge of tuberculosis is putting them down.

"Kalangala's performance in the fight against HIV has been tremendously welcomed by health officials globally, but now Tuberculosis has ushered in a setback," he said.

Participants in the meeting tasked Kalangala district local government to caution its health inspectors and parish chiefs against soliciting funds before examining food business owners which is cited as a leading cause.

William Lugoloobi, the district chairperson admitted that the there has been negligence by some officers and promised to meet other authorities in the district to create a lasting solution to all these challenges.

"We have known about this issue but limited action was brought in by the geography of our area, we caution officers but nothing changed"

He admitted that there are weaknesses in the taxation policy that makes the enforcement team look for taxes instead of seeking medical examination, but promised to consult the District Health Officer to reach an agreement.

Kalangala restaurant owners have in the past years been lamenting about the enforcement team soliciting for medical examination fees from them without providing the examination certificates, which has put consumers' lives at risk.

However, Dr Edward Muwanga the organiser of the forum who is also the District Veterinary Officer said the dairy industry in the area has also contributed to the increase in the spread of TB.

Muwanga said most of the milked cows in Kalangala are affected by TB, and the owners declined from treating them which has greatly affected the health of the milk consumers.

Geographically, Kalangala is challenged in service delivery. Health workers find it very costly to traverse the isolated islands to render services, and at times are forced to use their own eyes to detect illness in islanders.