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More than 4,000 Majuro residents were screened for tuberculosis and leprosy during the first three weeks of a mass screening program.
. Mayor Majuro Ladie Jack and Minister of Health Kalani Kaneko were among the first to participate in the leprosy screening program. Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands, last week.
Photo: RNZ / Kelly Lorennij
The objective of this program is to control 90% of the population of the Marshall Islands capital where 30,000 people live.
The Department of Health and Human Services said The Marshalls have one of the highest rates of TB in the world and the department warned early on that it was expecting to find one in four positive for latent or non-active. TB
The results of the first three weeks confirmed this early prediction. Of the 4,099 people who completed TB screening, 1036 (25%) were diagnosed with latent TB and started treatment.
In addition, 38 people, including several children, had active, contagious tuberculosis. [19659006] The ministry said that they also started treatment.
The second stage of screening identifies and treats people with Hansen's disease (leprosy). The Ministry reported that 13 new cases of leprosy were identified and people were referred for treatment
Majuro's screening and treatment program follows a successful tuberculosis screening program on the island of Ebeye, the second largest urban center of the Marshall Islands. Last year's screening and treatment program halved Ebeye's tuberculosis rate
"The current number of TB cases will continue to increase over the next two months "said the ministry.
In addition to people with active and latent tuberculosis, "more than 100 individuals with radiographs of concern are awaiting tuberculosis (laboratory-derived) culture results in Hawaii."
Everyone 10 years old and older receives a chest x-ray to check for TB. Portable X-ray equipment is available in two public primary schools used as screening centers
The ministry said it conducted a daily screening of more than 300 people.
Although the ongoing mass screening program in Majuro focuses on identifying and treating tuberculosis and leprosy, health personnel are also screening for noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.
During the first three weeks of screening, 1017 "high-risk people" were tested.
Of these, 277 (27 percent) showed blood sugar levels confirming them as diabetics.
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