World TB day is a significant occasion for health workers, partners, researchers, the TB community and all stakeholders who contribute their resources to fight against TB. The commemoration of word TB day is carried out annually in Ghana with a lot of activities in march. Prestea Huni-Valley Municipal happens to be selected in the entire country to host this year’s word TB day with the theme “YES WE CAN END TB”. The celebration was held at PRESTEC SHS PARK AT PRESTEA in the PHMA municipality on Friday 24th March, 2023 to help raise public awareness of active TB mitigating against the health of the general public.

The western regional deputy director in charge of public health MS. Gifty Amugi made it clear that, despite the enormous efforts put in place under National Tuberculosis Program to end TB, the diseases is still in our communities and claiming lives. It is for this reason that globally every 21 st march is has been set as word TB day to create awareness that TB can be prevented and cured, treatment for TB are easily accessible in District health facilities, it therefore depends on you and I to make good use of these resource to help overcome the disease. It important to know that currently in Ghana five (5) people are infected with TB every hour and two (2) persons died from tuberculosis every hour, Ghana has however made a lot of strives in our fight against tuberculosis, in 2022, 16526 were diagnose with Tuberculosis here in Ghana and were put into treatment but
the good news is that 85% of these persons have been completely cured. Again for TB ones the infected persons are been put on treatment, it becomes very difficult to spread the disease to other persons. In western region in 2022, 1,918 cases of TB were confirmed and 99.1% of the patients are now cured in the region. This shows that we are making as a region and a country as a whole so when all come together as one, we can surely end the disease she ended.

The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) Hon. Isaac Dasmani in his address, hinted that, the occasion is celebrated to create awareness to prevent the spread and cured Tuberculosis, we should all understand that one person with infectious tuberculosis can spread out to about 150 people in a year but when the patients started treatment the majority of them are no longer infectious the after just two weeks properly taken medication. According to 2022 TB cases in the municipality,245 were infected and 241 have been treated. It is also understanding that people who are prone to dusty environment are at risk of getting TB, we are working tirelessly to reduce such risk as municipality. People can also report symptoms of TB, such as beating of chest whilst coughing, sweating at night, coughing out blood, coughing more than two weeks etc. to health professionals to help prevent the disease in our municipality. Institutions that are into mining are also advised to liaised with the health directorate for regular checkup of their workers for possible infection and early treatment. The Municipal Health Directorate is doing all what they can to end all the infectious disease though their limited resources, the Assembly’s doors are widely open for them to help fight this course thank you all he concluded.

Nana Nteboah Prah (iv) the Divisional chief of Himan-Prestea traditional area said that, it is shocking to learned that Himan, Prestea, Bondaye are leading tuberculosis cases in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality, although the municipality achieved 100% of TB treatment in 2022, doesn’t make it a good news to boost of and he therefore made an appealed to everyone in the municipality to be an ambassadors of this infectious diseases to encourage to prevent and cured it at once from the municipality and also advise them to be very much concern about their health, ordered them to attend health screening programmes to help them know their health status at every moment of their life. Thank you all he ended.

In attendance were The Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) of PHMA, The Deputy Regional Director in charge of public health, MS. Gifty Amugi, The Divisional Chief of Himan-Prestea traditional area Nana Nteboah Prah (iv) and his elders, Various Municipal and District Health Directors, other stakeholders and the general public.