Mobile TB screening and health information centres bring vital tuberculosis (TB) services to some 600 people in hard-to-reach areas every month in the seven townships of Mandalay, through The Union’s programme in Myanmar. Mobile units conduct sputum smear exams and chest x-rays, and distribute educational materials in targeted areas such as prisons, industrial zones, areas with high rates of TB and communities suffering from chronic poverty.
The Union, through the Programme to Increase Catchment of Tuberculosis Suspects (PICTS), has implemented these active case-finding activities in Myanmar since 2014. PICTS actively works in Mandalay to mobilise the community, provide much needed health education sessions, and conduct TB patient contact tracing and TB testing services.
The mobile TB screening units serve members of communities that are often missed or unreached by the clinics and health centres. These people often cannot afford the transportation costs to get to the clinics or do not have the time to spare, and as a result often go undiagnosed or untreated, putting them at greater risk of developing drug-resistant TB.
“I work long hours and do not have the time to travel across town to the testing centre,” said one of the members of the community who visited a Union mobile testing unit in June. “Here we are able to access services and information so we can ensure good health for ourselves and our families.”
The Union Office in Myanmar delivers PICTS services in collaboration with the National Tuberculosis Programme and the Ministry of Health and Sports, Department of Public Health, through a grant from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.