Information, the first step in TB prevention

Tens of locals in the village of Răzvani, the town of Lehliu-Gară, Călărași County, received information about tuberculosis during the information, education and communication caravan held on 10 June 2016 by the community nurse Mariana Corina Niculae and the local sanitary mediator Beattris Mihaela Iamandi. “Have you heard about TB?” asks the loud voice of the nurse in the huge village community centre.Several women cross themselves, a villager asks if it is related to asthma, another woman asks if children who get a cold develop TB.

The nurse and the mediator briefly explain to them what tuberculosis is, how it is transmitted, how it is treated, and tells them that the treatment must be followed strictly and that it is provided for free. The participants are now a little more at ease and start listening attentively. They find out that it is good for them to go to the doctor’s if they have been coughing for several weeks, if they lose a lot of weight over a short period of time, if they sweat during the night even when the weather is not hot, if they feel very tired almost all the time, without physical effort. “There are no TB cases in Răzvani Village,” says the nurse, who, at the end of the session, hands out T-shirts, caps and backpacks to the participants, together with leaflets containing basic, clearly worded and readable TB information.

The IEC session in Răzvani is the 106^th IEC Caravan organised by the Centre for Health Policies and Services Foundation (CPSS) within the project RO 19.01 – “The Improvement of the health of the Romanian population through enhanced tuberculosis control.” The project seeks to provide information to approximately 10,000 people in the selected communities with regard to TB (transmission, prevention, signs and symptoms, treatment, the importance of accessing the primary healthcare services, etc.). Overall, 5,479 persons have been informed about tuberculosis during the 105 caravans organised since the beginning of June.