Dr Brenda Mungai, TB ARC Acting Chief of Party, (left) with Geoffrey Tumaini, sCTLC Embakasi, Dr Joseph Kibachio from the Non Communicable Disease Unit and Dr Paul Wekesa, CHS CEO during the World Diabetes Day 2014
A person with Diabetes is two or three times more likely to develop Tuberculosis (TB) than a person without Diabetes.
Concerns about the looming TB-Diabetes epidemic prompted the CHS led Tuberculosis Accelerated Response and Care (TB ARC) activity to support the Ministry of Health’s Non Communicable Disease Unit (NCD –Unit) to commemorate this year’s World Diabetes Day.
Commemorated every year on November 14, this year’s World Diabetes Day was marked under the theme ‘Healthy Living and Diabetes’ and aimed to address the topic of healthy eating and its importance in preventing and managing diabetes.
TB ARC supported the NCD – Unit to screen members of the public for diabetes where individuals were also sensitised on the importance of healthy eating to prevent and manage diabetes.
During the screening, sub County Tuberculosis and Leprosy Coordinators (sCTLCS) from Makadara and Embakasi, Mary Chege, and Geoffrey Tumaini, were at hand to sensitise the public on the association between TB and Diabetes association.
Speaking on the link between the two diseases, CHS Chief Executive Officer, Dr Paul Wekesa said, “There is a lack of awareness on the risks and links between diabetes and TB in our setting. These two conditions have largely been managed separately, yet there is evidence of the increased risk of TB infection amongst individuals with diabetes. This information is quite relevant in Kenya because of the high TB burden. Changes in lifestyle have resulted in increased cases of diabetes in Kenya, posing the risk of a dual epidemic of TB and diabetes co-infection.
“TB ARC has a role to collaborate with the Ministry of Health and other partners to increase awareness of the risks and understanding of the burden of the two diseases in Kenya. There are opportunities to ensure screening of TB among diabetes patients and screening of diabetes among TB patients and management of the co-infected.“ He added.
In the same vein, TB ARC Acting Chief of Party Dr Brenda Mungai, also said, “We hope to work closely with the NCD-Unit in conjunction with the NTLD-Unit to see how we can integrate diabetes screening in TB clinics.
I know there are some CTLCs and sCTLCS such as Mary and Geoffrey who are passionate about this issue and we hope to be involve them more in similar screenings within the various sub -counties.” She said.