Health officials from Kenya and Tanzania have raised the red flag about the increasing challenges of managing tuberculosis (TB) cases along their common border, reporting a series of incidents which include patients disappearing, families interfering, and administrative bottlenecks that in are treatment derail and ignition of complications besides deaths.
While in Mabera Sub-County, Migori, at a meeting of the annual performance review for TB cross-border activities funded by the Impact Research Development Organization, health workers disclosed that among other factors immigration restrictions are the biggest challenge to track those patients who are border-hopping for business or to visit their families.
Them further explaining that following patients who have gone over the border without losing their tracks is a very hard mission hence the risk of TB cases in the community going without treatment is quite high.
“We cannot do much when we lose our contact with patients. Family interventions and bureaucracy exacerbate the problem, thus, leading to interruptions in treatment that are very dangerous,” said one official.
The health experts are now appealing for more freedom to medical teams along the border from both the governments so that they can carry out their work without interference.
They further caution that the area will be at risk of more infections and deaths that could be avoided if the governments do not act in a coordinated manner.