Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) is raising awareness about tuberculosis (TB), ahead of World TB Day this Sunday 24 March.
MLHD's TB Coordinator and Clinical Nurse Consultant Emma Hunt said TB is a preventable bacterial infection which, despite being curable, remains a destructive epidemic in much of the world.
"Millions of people still fall ill with TB every year. While Australia is considered a low incidence TB country, there is no room for complacency," Ms Hunt said.
"TB is one of the oldest and deadliest diseases which, despite being preventable, kills more than 1.3 million people each year across the globe.
"The good news is TB can be successfully treated with the correct antibiotics and carefully supervised treatment, and MLHD provides a number of TB-related services."
TB day aims to raise public awareness about the impacts of tuberculosis to step up efforts to end the global epidemic. This year's continuing theme is: Yes. We can end TB.
TB can attack any part of the body, but the lungs are the most common site. People with TB may have the following symptoms:
- A cough that lasts for more than three weeks
- Fevers
- Unexplained weight loss
- Night sweats
- Always feeling tired
- Loss of appetite
- Blood-stained sputum
- Pain and/or swelling in the affected area when TB is outside the lungs.
MLHD remains committed to raising TB awareness in the community and participates in the NSW TB program which provides a comprehensive multidisciplinary service for the prevention, screening and treatment of TB in NSW.
The MLHD's TB service provides:
- Comprehensive assessment and diagnostic services
- Medical and nursing consultations for all aspects of prevention and control
- Treatment of latent and active Tuberculosis including supervision of medication adherence
- Occupational TB screening
- Immigration TB screening and assessment
- TB contact screening and outbreak investigations
- BCG vaccination
- Education for parents, community and health care workers.
MLHD's TB Care Coordinators, Noel Paradero and Ginny Sykes said they are dedicated to providing high-quality care to the District's patients as part of their wider goal to contribute to the worldwide reduction of infections by 2030 and the United Nations' goal to end TB by 2035.
"As an immigrant I went through a lot of TB screening as part of my visa and occupational health assessment in Canada, UK and here in Australia, which aided my understanding of the processes and helps me care for my clients," Mr Paradero said.
"To be able to provide the best possible service, I became a participant/researcher of the Australasian Clinical Tuberculosis Network and recently received scholarship grants from the Australian Respiratory Council and am now in the final year of my Masters in Tuberculosis Management."
The MLHD's free TB Service can be accessed via a GP or by contacting the Community Care Intake Service on:
