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The Liberia National Red Cross Society (LNRCS) has launched a massive Tuberculosis awareness campaign in three counties to help prevent the spread and prevalence of the disease in the country.
The campaign which was launched Friday in Montserrado, Margibi and Rivercess counties was characterized by massive dissemination of information, education and communication (IEC) materials on the prevention of TB by volunteers of the National Red Cross Society.
Already 255 volunteers of the LNRCS in the three counties are involved in the spreading of TB awareness messages and distributing posters and literatures on how the disease can be prevented and cured. During the campaign their outreach will cover a total of 51 communities.
The LNRCS which has one TB piloting project in Montserrado County is collaborating with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the National Malaria, Leprosy and TB Control Program. The program is supported by the British Red Cross.
LNRCS TB Supervisor, Solomon Y. Addison said there has been an upsurge in TB cases in Liberia with Montserrado County recording the highest, prompting the Red Cross to launch the awareness campaign.
Mr. Addison said the program is providing support and treatment for people affected with the disease.
Volunteers of the LNRCS, he explained, have been engaged in providing awareness, sensitization, case identification and referral for treatment.
He said that the present phase of the campaign is designed to engender the involvement of the communities in order to reduce the stigma associated with contracting the TB virus. He also disclosed plans to extend the awareness exercise to other parts of the country depending on donor funding.
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