New Standard to Combat Tuberculosis in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi

The announcement was made by HAAD following field visits to health care facilities in the Emirate with experts from the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) Atlanta, and during a training workshop to update health care providers about the advances in diagnosis and management of TB.

Dr. Farida Al Hosani, Section Head, Communicable Diseases at HAAD said: “TB is a challenging public health concern and we are aiming to enhance the reporting and management cases in the Emirate. The treatment course for TB is taken for around 6 months to one year and a lot of patients don’t complete the course of treatment. The new system will enable us to follow up the cases diagnosed with TB and make sure that they are taking their treatment.”

“The workshop aims to improve the knowledge of the health care professionals regarding case detection, management and follow up of TB patients in order to increase the cure rate and reduce the transmission possibilities of the disease in the community,” Dr. Farida added.

HAAD also demonstrated the method of implementation and the reporting process of TB patients under DOT program.

According to HAAD 2010 statistics, 450 cases of pulmonary TB and 175 cases of extrapulmonary TB were registered in the Emirate.