By Neo Kolane
The situation of people diagnosed with Tuberculosis (TB) in Lesotho has become dire during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to the previous years.
The nationwide lockdowns restricted people from visiting health facilities as they were not able to travel. They were also afraid to present signs of TB due to the stigma attached to COVID-19.
Speaking at the TB preventive therapy conference yesterday, the monitoring and evaluation officer of the ministry of health’s National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Programme (NTLP), Thato Raleting, stated that there has been a decline of people visiting health facilities during the pandemic, especially during the lockdowns.
“Therefore, during the first quarter of 2020, there was a decline in the number of Out Patient Department (OPD) attendees, due to the first lockdown between April and June 2020. Almost all the districts experienced the same decline.”
Raleting added that, overall, in 2019 and the preceding four years, they recorded an average of 7 000 cases. However, in 2020, the number stood at around 4 500.
This means 3000 cases are still out there in the communities; some of them have passed away while others are active and infecting other people.”
