12 Nov Stop TB Partnership Kenya: Street dance competition provides opportunity to screen youths for TB
[vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_separator type=”normal” thickness=”2″ up=”20″ down=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_gallery type=”nivo” interval=”3″ images=”2362,2363,2364″ img_size=”full”][vc_column_text]Stop TB Partnership-Kenya, together with AIDS Health Care Foundation (AHF), organized for the second time an annual street dance competition aimed at mobilizing youths to raise conscience about TB and HIV and to access the related health services.
As part of their efforts to find the missing people with TB, Stop TB Partnership Kenya, in collaboration with the Nairobi County TB coordination team, conducted TB screenings that were aimed at active case finding. Additionally, IEC material on TB was distributed to create awareness and empower people with information on this infectious disease.
The target population were young people between the ages of 15 and 30 living in the slums in Nairobi. This year’s event drew youths from Mukuru, Mathare and Dagoretti within Nairobi city.
The event was themed “KubanjuNaFom” which is street lingo for “Dance with a difference”. The attendees had access to HIV testing and TB screening, among other health services.
In order to engage the younger audiences, young people who had been affected by TB shared their experiences with them; Steve Anguva, a TB advocate, and Steve Otieno, a singer who lost both parents to TB, were involved in the event.
In total, 2,710 youths were reached with TB information and education material. Community Health Workers (CHWs) offered orientation on TB signs and symptoms, prevention, diagnosis and treatment. They also carried out verbal screenings for 215 people. Sputum samples were collected from presumptive TB cases and transported for testing to the nearby health facilities. 3 were diagnosed with TB and the CHWs provided follow-up and ensured they were all initiated on treatment.
One of the main challenges during the intervention was obtaining quality sputum on the spot, especially from people who inject drugs and those who had drank alcohol. In these cases, they were asked by CHWs to procure sputum samples the next morning and take them to their nearest health facility for testing. A motorbike rider was hired to deliver the samples to health facilities during the event.
Community Health Workers also identified poor health seeking behavior amongst young people, possibly due to stigma; despite having information and access to health services, people did not get tested for TB of HIV.
Moving forward, Stop TB Kenya will apply the lessons learned this year for next year’s event. Support from the Ministry of Health and better funding will be crucial to reach a larger population and find more of the missing people with TB.
Listen to one of the songs played at the event here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]