08.02.2012Center Amalipe conducted a campaign for the prevention of tuberculosis in the village of Daskot
On February 8, 2012 members of the Center Amalipe conducted a campaign within the framework “Strengthening the National Program for Prevention and Control of Tuberculosis in Bulgaria” together with the nurse Ivanichka Balgaranova of the Specialized Hospital for Active Treatment of Pneumo-physiatric Diseases Dr. Treyman Ltd. Veliko Tarnovo. The campaign took place in the pensioners club of the village of Daskot with the assistance of Mayor Petar Kanchev. The meeting brought the disease tuberculosis to the attention of the people and sensitized for the serious condition after an infection. The campaigners and the nurse Balgaranova discussed the way the disease spreads, how to protect and how to treat the disease. While the attendees were leafing through the health education material, Momchil Baev from Center Amalipe presented the opportunities the Program for the Prevention of Tuberculosis offers – including escorting clients to the hospital, the role of the outreach workers and the care costs for the patients and their families. Some of the participants were already familiar with the disease and shared experiences. A woman said that her mother died of tuberculosis when she was 9 years old. The disease was not treated back then. Some people from the audience wondered why an almost forgotten disease is back again with such intensity and whether it is necessary for somebody who has suffered from this disease in childhood to be monitored periodically. The nurse Balgaranova named a number of factors such as miserable living, malnutrition, poor hygiene and the use of insufficiently cooked products like meat and milk as main factors for the spread of this infectious disease. According to Balgaranova everybody who has suffered from any form of tuberculosis should regularly monitor their condition because it is possible that latent tuberculosis bacteria still live in their organism. The campaign emphasized also the danger of infecting children in a household where they live together since many generations. All attendees took questionnaires and found out that for them there is no risk for the disease.
