TB ambassador

‘I’ve TB but not HIV positive’

FIT AND STILL GOING STRONG . . . Mr Freddy Bosha with his great grandchild Tinotenda Chihoro and daughter Mrs Ottilia Chihoro.

By Phyllis Kachere
“THE cough would just not go away. For almost two years, the doctors would just prescribe cough mixture, some antibiotics and send me home, but the cough persisted. Just as I was giving up, I was tested and it turned out my cough was tuberculosis (TB) related,” narrated 89-year-old Mr Freddy Benyu Bosha of Mubaira, Mhondoro.
Mr Bosha narrated the difficulties he encountered in his journey with undiagnosed TB as none of the several medical institutions he visited suspected his cough could be related to the disease.
“None of the hospitals and doctors that I went to suspected TB yet I had all the symptoms. Being elderly, sweating profusely and general worn-out body tissue, I don’t know why it took this long for them to diagnose the TB.
“When I was eventually tested for TB at Chitungwiza Central Hospital, the medical personnel there were surprised at how the TB had been elusive for that long. Today I spread the gospel of TB testing to those around me and in my community,” said Mr Bosha.
The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare head of the TB unit, Dr Charles Sandy, told The Sunday Mail that children under five, the elderly and HIV+ were at greater risk of contracting TB than any of the other groups of the population.
“The elderly, children under five years old and the HIV+ are most at risk for contracting TB. Amongst the children, BCG vaccination is the best form of preventing TB infection while for the elderly and HIV+ prophylaxis drugs to prevent it. Isoniazide is usually administered to those who are HIV+.
Mrs Ottilia Chihoro (55), who is Mr Bosha’s eldest offspring and cared for him during his illness, said although it took long for her father’s TB to be diagnosed, he responded well to treatment and within a fortnight of commencing it he could walk and feed well.
“He was worn out and we were almost giving up on him. With age not on his side, we were all surprised when he responded so well to the drugs that he could walk and eat well within a fortnight of treatment,” she said.
Mrs Chihoro said since she was providing care for her sick father, she has been compulsorily screened for TB and has tested negative.
“I would wash his vomit and sweat-filled clothes. My husband shared a bedroom with my sick father as he provided care at night. My father could not turn so my husband would turn him during the night. The doctors advised us to feed him nutritious meals,” she said.
Mr Bosha said he was advised to eat lots of matamba, tsubvu and other wild fruits.
With the deadly combination of TB and HIV fast becoming a threat to sub-Saharan Africa, it has become mandatory in Zimbabwe’s health institutions to get tested for both diseases if one has already tested for one.
“Because of the close link between TB and HIV, it has become imperative for our hospitals and clinics to test for TB if one has tested positive to HIV and vice versa.
“Eighty percent of people who are HIV+ are likely to contract TB, so we are working hard to prevent this fatal combination,” said Dr Sandy.

doctor examines a suspected tuberculosis patient.

Mr Bosha has become the anonymous TB ambassador who grabs every opportunity at village meetings to spread his TB gospel.
“People have been misinformed that if you have TB it means you have HIV. That’s false and I preach that at funerals and village meetings in my home area in Mubaira in Mhondoro. “This misinformation has resulted in young people refusing to get tested for TB in case they are automatically labelled HIV+. Because of my gospel, information levels have improved. I had TB but I tested negative for HIV. I don’t have HIV,” said Mr Bosha.
According to a UNAIDS fact sheet, TB and HIV co-infection is a serious public health concern the world over, especially in areas with a high burden of TB and HIV such as the sub-Saharan Africa.
UNAIDS estimates for 2008 showed that 33 million people were living with HIV with an estimated 1,37 million new cases for TB among people living with HIV.
Zimbabwe is ranked 17 on the global list of 22 TB-burdened countries.
According to WHO’s Global TB report of 2009, Zimbabwe had an estimated 71 961 new TB cases with an incidence rate of 539 cases per every 100 000 people.
Zimbabwe has the unenviable record of having the second highest TB mortality rate in the world. Dr Sandy noted that the lack of funding for TB research with regards to new drugs and new diagnostic equipment remains the greatest challenge in the eradication of TB.
“Particularly disheartening for Zimbabwe is that regardless of how fatal multi-drug-resistant TB is, patients have to wait for about three to four months by which time most of the patients would have died.”-The Sunday Mail