Tuberculosis screening in the Marshall Islands confirms high rates

More than 4,000 Majuro residents were screened for tuberculosis and leprosy during the first three weeks of a mass screening program.

The goal of the program is to verify 90 percent of the capital's population

The Department of Health and Social Services announced that it was on track to track 26,000 people during next few weeks.

The Marshalls have one of the highest rates of tuberculosis in the world. he 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, 1,036 (25%) were diagnosed with latent TB and started treatment.

In addition, 38 people, including several children, had active, contagious tuberculosis. [19659002] 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 in the Marshall Islands. Last year's screening and treatment program halved Ebeye's TB rate

"The current number of TB cases will continue to increase over the next two months ", said the ministry in a report.

In addition to people with latent and active TB, "more than 100 individuals with radiographs of concern are waiting for culture results from tuberculosis (from a lab) in Hawaii"

and older is receiving a X-ray of the chest to check for tuberculosis. Portable X-ray equipment is available in two public primary schools used as screening centers

The ministry reported that it was screening more than 300 people each day.

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 [19659014]. During the first three weeks of screening, 1017 "high risk people" were tested.

Of these, 277 (27 percent) showed sugar levels in the blood confirming them as diabetics.