Dubai: The Ministry of Health and Prevention organised an awareness event to mark World Tuberculosis Day on Saturday, under the slogan ‘We need leaders to create a world free from tuberculosis’.
The event was held to create awareness about the seriousness of tuberculosis (TB) and highlight the ministry’s efforts in implementing the National Tuberculosis Control Programme, by providing free health care to all TB patients.
Dr Fathila Mohammad Sharif, director of the ministry’s Health Education and Promotion Department, said the agenda, as part of World TB Day until March 31, includes community initiatives in commercial centres, preventive medicine centres and primary health care centres. Health workers participating in these events will answer the public’s queries about the disease and distribute information material.
She added that the activities also include a contest called ‘Light your house in red.’ The aim of this interactive competition is to display the community’s solidarity with TB patients and to garner support in the fight against the disease.
Participants will have to upload a picture of their home in red, with the hashtag #International_Day_to_Combat_Tuberculosis, in addition to posting words of encouragement for people affected by the disease. Contestants will then be shortlisted, and the first three winners will be announced for the best pictures.
Hussain Abdul Rahman Rand, the ministry’s assistant undersecretary for Health Clinics and Centres, said World TB Day is an opportunity to raise public awareness about the health, social and economic impact of the “tuberculosis epidemic” and intensify efforts to end it.
He also referred to the ministry’s strategy to combat TB and its cooperation with WHO in order to protect the UAE community from communicable diseases, and effectively reduce TB in the country.
Dr Nada Al Marzouqi, director of the ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department, pointed to the participation of the UAE in the Eastern Mediterranean regional strategy from 2016 to 2020 to eradicate TB in the region.
The ministry has implemented, in collaboration with the health authorities and its strategic partners, several preventive strategies and programmes to reduce and control the spread of the disease. These include standardisation of surveillance methods and treatment systems, provision of TB drugs on a regular basis, preventive vaccination of children at birth, and TB testing as a medical check-up for job applicants in the country.
