Ambon (ANTARA) – The health office in Ambon City, Maluku, has trained 100 tuberculosis (TB) cadres who are tasked with finding suspected sick people, providing care and treatment to patients with the disease until they are cured.
“The low number of tuberculosis patients has led us to train 100 cadres who will be the spearheads of the community to seek and find patients,” said Wendy Pelupessy, head of Ambon City’s health service in Ambon on Friday.
He said cadres have received training on TB management so that there would be an active role for the community in managing this disease.
Read also: Ambon city government plans budget for AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria control in RAPBD 2023
He hopes that cadres will be able to carry out tuberculosis control in the community, in particular by assisting treatment of patients until recovery, and are required to conduct contact investigations in order to find cases in the community.
Additionally, cadres are trained to use the accelerated tuberculosis elimination application. When the picture finds a patient, the data will appear in the puskesmas or in the area where the officer will visit to find out the TB bag.
“The executives work together with the puskesmas to carry out the exams, where our goal is to find 800 people suspected of tuberculosis until December 2022,” he said.
Read also: Maluku Task Force: funeral of tuberculosis patients with COVID-19 protocol
It recognized that the low level of community involvement in screening for suspected tuberculosis cannot be separated from adequate understanding, how it is passed on, criteria for suspected patients and prevention efforts.
Efforts to actively assist patients during treatment, he said, take a long time in accordance with treatment rules that meet standards.
In addition, the stigma about tuberculosis and limited information about tuberculosis services and treatment in the community affect patients’ motivation to recover.
“It is hoped that cadre training will increase case discovery and recovery, reduce the number of patients who are lost to follow-up and drop out of treatment, and help eliminate public perceptions and attitudes that hinder the control program. tuberculosis, “said Wendy.
Read also: The Maluku health office estimates there are 6,379 patients with tuberculosis
