The flag-off of the wellness on wheels truck and Deflt light Backpack for Active TB Case Finding in Cross River State on the 11th of January 2021 was a success.
This event was marked by the ribbon-cutting ceremony performed by Hon. Commissioner for Health Dr. Bertha Edu at ongoing community outreach in
Gbogobiri, Calabar Municipality for which 2 TB cases were found and have been enrolled on treatment.
The KNCV TB Foundation Nigeria is implementing the TB LON Regions 1 and 2 projects in Cross River State and 13 other states in the country with funding from USAID.
The decision to move into Boki LGA CRS with the wow truck and DLB was based on the performance of the STBLCP team and all the TB partners in finding more cases of TB in Boki compared to other LGAs in the state.
The WOW/DLB will augment the state response by actively finding more TB cases in the communities.
This technology operationalized in a mobile truck, the Wellness on Wheel (WoW), and DLB improves access to quality TB diagnostics in communities and contributes to an increase in TB case finding and reduction in turn-around-time of test results during TB case finding campaigns since 2014. It takes less than 2 hours to diagnose 8 patients for TB based on the two 4modular GeneXpert machines in the wow truck.
The State Commissioner of Health was accompanied by the Executive Director of KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation Nigeria and his team, the DG State Primary Healthcare Board, the director Public Health in Cross River State, the National TB program lead in Cross River State, members from the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, the Sarkin Hausawa community, their entourages, and the media.
The commissioner in her speech was delighted in the Cross-River State performance in TB case finding for 2020 and pledged to support the WoW initiative in the state to surpass achievements of the previous year in TB case finding.
At the event, the Executive Director of KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation, Dr. Bethrand Odume said that
“It is important to actively find every TB case in the community and enroll them on treatment as one un-diagnosed TB Case in the community can infect 15 other persons within one year.” He further stated that a new technology DLB has been added to enable TB screening take place at doorsteps in hard-to-reach communities, he reiterated KNCV’s partnership with the state and National TB program while thanking USAID for funding this project”
The commissioner called on all Crossriverians to come out and get tested and be enrolled on treatment for free, she encouraged all the stakeholders to double their efforts in making sure that every single person with TB is diagnosed and enrolled on treatment.
