Kenya: Ongoing election violence puts TB treatment back for many years’
Photo: REUTERS/Georgina Cranston shown on the International Medical Corps website
As the leaders of the two rival parties in Kenya’s disputed December election finally meet the American NGO International Medical Corps (IMC) has reported this week how the ongoing insecurity in the country is affecting access to vital healthcare services. With as many as 250,000 people displaced, clearly access to healthcare services has been severely affected. The IMC report focuses on TB treatment and highlights the dangers of interruptions to regimens, particularly in the early phase of treatment. At this stage, an interruption of just seven days can necessitate restarting the course. Additionally, such gaps in treatment encourage development of resistance to oral agents and therefore a switch to intravenous medicines. There is also growing concern about the impact on adherence to anti-retroviral HIV treatment, and the health effects of continuing food insecurity in the country.
While today’s meeting of Kibaki and Odinga seems to be a positive step towards some resolution to the recent turmoil, it remains to be seen how long the unrest will continue.
In the meantime it would be great to hear from any student in Kenya; please get in touch (Email us at student@lancet.com) if you are interested in writing anything about this or any other issues. Our thoughts are with you. The Lancet Student
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