Malian peer-educators teach community members how to recognize the symptoms of tuberculosis and how to seek proper medical attention, with costs and transport covered by GAIA.
Mali has one of the lowest tuberculosis (TB) case detection rates in the world. Currently over 80% of Malians who suffer from tuberculosis remain undiagnosed, and thus cannot benefit from the free TB treatment provided by the government. In Sikoro, lack of education coupled with extreme poverty make it especially difficult for residents to access health resources. The TB BOLO program is needed to sensitize the community about TB and facilitate access to testing and treatment.
GAIA educates around 1000 community members per month, and brings potential TB cases to the local clinic and hospital for medical attention. By detecting cases early, our patients are more likely to survive and less likely to transmit the disease.
When TB cases are detected early, they are more likely to survive, and less likely to spread the disease to others. TB-BOLO could stem TB transmission in Sikoro and provide an example to the rest of Mali and beyond.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
