New technologies are helping Zambia make the most of its scarce health workers and laboratories in the fight against tuberculosis (TB).
The Zambia Aids-Related TB Project (ZAMBART), a local NGO that provides testing and treatment, has introduced easy-to-use digital chest x-rays and relatively cheap made-to-order laboratories to help close gaps in stepping up the fight against TB and HIV, which are common co-infections.
In a country where about 39,000 new cases of TB are reported annually, these innovations could help combat the high level of undiagnosed infectious TB, the recent Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction (ZAMSTAR) study noted.
According to UNAIDS, about 14 percent of Zambians are HIV-positive, which greatly increases their vulnerability to TB. ZAMBART estimates that about 70 percent of TB patients are co-infected with HIV, making them harder to diagnose and more likely to die from TB, the leading killer of HIV-positive people worldwide.
The ZAMSTAR study also found that while many patients with a chronic cough - a symptom of TB - did not seek medical attention, those who did were often poorly investigated.
After routine screening for TB, clinic staff asked TB suspects for a sputum sample.
The Zambia Aids-Related TB Project (ZAMBART), a local NGO that provides testing and treatment, has introduced easy-to-use digital chest x-rays and relatively cheap made-to-order laboratories to help close gaps in stepping up the fight against TB and HIV, which are common co-infections.
In a country where about 39,000 new cases of TB are reported annually, these innovations could help combat the high level of undiagnosed infectious TB, the recent Zambia-South Africa TB and AIDS Reduction (ZAMSTAR) study noted.
According to UNAIDS, about 14 percent of Zambians are HIV-positive, which greatly increases their vulnerability to TB. ZAMBART estimates that about 70 percent of TB patients are co-infected with HIV, making them harder to diagnose and more likely to die from TB, the leading killer of HIV-positive people worldwide.
The ZAMSTAR study also found that while many patients with a chronic cough - a symptom of TB - did not seek medical attention, those who did were often poorly investigated.
After routine screening for TB, clinic staff asked TB suspects for a sputum sample.
In HIV/TB co-infected patients these samples were more likely to result in a false positive result, so health workers used chest X-rays to confirm test results.
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