#WorldTuberculosisDay – Unite to end TB
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that affects the lungs. Cambodia is one of twenty-two countries with a high TB burden. Approximately two-thirds of all Cambodians carry the TB bacterium, one of the highest rates in the world, and some 13,000 Cambodians die annually from the disease.
TB is treatable with antibiotics, but poor access to healthcare means many in Cambodia are still victims of a preventable death. That’s why ISF provides free TB screening and treatment to all our new students.
Since November 2015, ISF nurses have collaborated with the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control to test all our students for TB and ensure they receive the appropriate treatment. In 2016, 205 ISF children were tested and thirty-eight tested positive to TB. Our ISF nurses, who closely monitored them, made sure that the students who were being treated took their course of medication each day until they were TB-free. After six-ten months of treatment, all students successfully recovered from TB. The students who began studying at ISF in November 2016 will be tested at the National Center for Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control in April 2017.
Rith is 11 years old and is among the 38 students who resulted positive to Tubercolosis. “Before joining ISF I could not afford to go to the doctor and I did not know I had TB. I used to have high fever and I always felt exhausted, but I could not understand why. When I got tested and I discovered I had TB, I was scared at first. Then the nurses explained to me what the disease was and reassured me that ISF would help me with the treatment. Now I am completely recovered from TB and I feel good again.”
In order to raise awareness about the the disease, ISF nurses and social workers visit families in the most at-risk neighbourhood and they regularly deliver lesson on TB to both our students and their parents at our two education centres in Phnom Penh. ISF social workers and nurses play a pivotal role in raising awareness about the risk factors of TB among ISF children. By giving them appropriate tools and knowledge, ISF students will be stronger and healthier.
On #WorldTuberculosisDay, we pledge to eradicate TB by spreading awareness and continuing to offer free TB screening and treatment to all our students.
