Ho, Jun 17, GNA - Dr Timothy Letsa, the Volta Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), on Thursday said free tuberculosis treatment is available to patients irrespective of whether they were registered under the National Health Insurance Scheme or not.

He said TB treatment under a national social intervention policy had been free before the inception of the National Health Insurance Scheme and still remained free.

Dr Letsa was opening a day's orientation on TB for staff of the Information Services Department (ISD) in the Volta Region in Ho organized by the HIV/TB Desk at the Volta Regional Directorate of the GHS. He said in some cases treatment centres would provide patients with food packages to raise their nutritional state and some cash to mitigate cost of commuting between place of residence and treatment centres. Dr Letsa said incentives were also available to families of patients coached to monitor compliance of those patients in taking their drugs during the long treatment period.

Mr Joe Degley, GHS Volta Regional Coordinator of HIV/TB, said the scheme to rope in the Information Services Department in the fight against TB was a national approach to raising knowledge about the disease countrywide.

He said the Volta Region seeks to achieve 85 percent TB cure rate in 2010, 70 percent detection rate, reduce morbidity and mortality and transmission through awareness creation.

Mr Degley said numbers and capacity of diagnostic and treatment centres were being increased and monitoring and reporting improved. A total of 1,579 cases of TB were recorded in the region last year. 17 June 10