The Kaduna State Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Programme, says it has commenced free chest x-ray for clinical Tuberculosis diagnosis in children.
The State Program Manager, Dr Abubakar Sadiq made the disclosure in an interview in Kaduna on Wednesday, saying that the free x-ray is part of the strategy to improve “Tuberculosis indices in the state since the children cannot produce spectrum.”
According to him, children are more predisposed and have low immunity.
The official noted that childhood Tuberculosis case detection is currently at five per cent of the total cases diagnosed in 2020 in the state, far below the national minimum of 10 per cent.
” We will do more to improve childhood Tuberculosis case detection this year,” Sadiq added.
The official said that the program would intensify Tuberculosis case finding through house-to-house search and screening of all hospital attendees in secondary and tertiary health facilities in the state.
” We hope to intensify case finding of u cases through contact tracing.
“Every Tuberculosis case that comes to us, we will go to the family and get them especially the children because we want to identify more of the children and place them on treatment.”
He said they would also engage nutrition clinics to improve childhood Tuberculosis diagnosis.
According to him, the Tuberculosis programme has also introduced stool testing for children.
” This effort has helped us in identifying Tuberculosis in children,” he said.
Sadiq said the program would also engage health facilities not providing Tuberculosis services to improve presumptive Tuberculosis case identification, to tackle the menace.
