Kenya first tuberculosis (TB) surveillance in 60 years has revealed that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been underestimating the prevalence of the deadly disease in recent surveys.
The Kenya Tuberculosis Prevalence Survey 2016 shows that the country’s TB burden is higher than previously estimated with underestimation of the disease of up to 40 per cent.
Data from the Ministry of Health survey indicate that the disease attacked 558 people out of 100, 000 persons, up from the WHO figures of 266.
TB incidence is about 138,000 cases per year according to the national prevalence survey meaning that some 20, 000 cases of the infectious disease go undiagnosed thus affecting efforts and investments puts towards fighting the disease.
“Kenya conducted its first TB prevalence survey approximately 60 years ago in 1958-59. Since then, Kenya has relied on WHO estimates to extrapolate incidence and case detection rates but the TB burden in Kenya is higher than previously estimated.
In every 100 TB cases we are not getting 40 of them – based on the estimations on how wide the disease can spread from an infected person to another,” read the report.
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