Analysis of Tuberculosis Trends and Treatment outcomes data in The Gambia reported in the DHIS2 from 2017 to 2021

Abstract

Background Tuberculosis remains a serious public health problem in The Gambia, 6th top cause of DALYs. Treatment outcome serves as a tool to control the quality of tuberculosis treatment provided by the health care system. The global epidemiology of tuberculosis has been shaped in recent decades by HIV/AIDS, urbanization and poverty The majority of survey detected TB cases (95%) were new and not on treatment at diagnosis (Gambia Health Policy 2021–2030). Methods: The study is a retrospective cross-sectional secondary data review aimed at analyzing existing Programmatic Tuberculosis data extracted from the DHIS2. Results A total of 4109 TB Cases (Extrapulmonary and Pulmonary) were recorded in DHIS2 for the period 2017 to 2021, of which 3,349 (81.5%) were pulmonary TB Cases, males accounted for 59.9% whiles Western Health Region one which has about 50% of the National population accounted for 51.1% of the total number of cases 2099 (51.1%). A total of 5491 cases were reported for treatment outcome, this is higher than the number of active cases for the period in review which could be because data from the previous year reported in the new year. Out of this 575 (10.5%) completed treatment whiles 4720 (86%) were cured. During the period, a total of 3472 HIV Positive TB Coinfections were reported of which 36.1% (1290) were on ART, 9.9% (353) were cured and 4.0% (died) Conclusion We realize that there is a high turnout rate for treatment outcome especially for those that complete their treatment and those that are cured.