"Sri Lanka is in the forefront of controlling not only TB but also AIDS. Five out of 22 countries in the world where TB has heavily spread are in South East Asia and one of them is India," said the Minister of Health, Nimal Siripala de Silva.
The Minister, delivering the keynote address at the 'National Festival to mark World TB Day 2008' added that the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition has been able to take the message of the danger of TB and the possibility of its prevention, thanks to the increased financial assistance extended by the WHO and Global Fund to prevent
AIDS and Malaria.
He further stated that tuberculosis cannot be eradicated only through the efforts of the state alone but with the assistance of society as the disease carries a stigma with many misconceptions associated with it.
"There was a time when TB patients were neglected and discriminated against and they were treated as lepers. Today TB is preventable and curable but there is a close relationship between TB and AIDS. Therefore people must be aware of the danger of getting AIDS.
"In Africa, majority of AIDS patients die of TB as they lose their immunity when they have HIV virus in their system and unable to fight the TB virus," Minister de Silva pointed out.
It is no doubt that the campaign carried out by health authorities to control TB has paid dividends. Only less than 5000 new cases have been detected among a population of 20 million which is an achievement. But sadly there was still approximately 7% of patients who default treatment. Six months of uninterrupted treatment will cure the patient completely.
The civil society, school children and patients must be educated on TB, its prevention and treatment as the disease does not carry a stigma as in the past, Minister de Silva said.
Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry Secretary Dr. Athula Kahandaliyanage and WHO country representative Dr. Augustino Borra also participated.