Jamaica to submit application for TB grant
Published: Wednesday | March 18, 2009
Jamaica will in the next three months, submit an application to the Global Fund for a grant to strengthen its local tuberculosis (TB) prevention and control programme.
According to Dr Eva Lewis-Fuller, director of health promotion and protection in the Ministry of Health and Environment, a grant from the Global Fund will assist Jamaica in improving its TB surveillance and overall response to the disease.
TB is a bacterial infection caused by a germ called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria usually attack the lungs, but they can also damage other parts of the body. TB spreads through the air when a person with TB of the lungs or throat coughs, sneezes or talks.
Lewis-Fuller said strengthening Jamaica's surveillance system could break the chain of transmission of TB.
