More than 4000 Majuro residents have been screened for tuberculosis and leprosy during the first three weeks of a mass-screening programme.
Majuro Mayor Ladie Jack (L) and Health Minister Kalani Kaneko were among the first to participate in the mass TB and leprosy screening programme launched in Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands, last week. Photo: RNZ/Kelly Lorennij
The aim of the programme is to check 90 percent of the population of the Marshall Islands capital where 30,000 live.
The Ministry of Health and Human Services said it was on track to screening 26,000 people over the coming weeks.
The Marshalls has one of the highest rates of TB in the world and the ministry warned at the outset that it expected to find one in four people positive for latent or non-active TB.
The results from the first three weeks confirmed this early prediction. Of the 4099 people who completed TB screening, 1036 (25 percent) were diagnosed with latent TB and started on treatment.
In addition, 38 people, including several children, were found to have active TB, which is contagious.
The ministry said they were also started on treatment.
The second step of the screening identifies and treats people with Hansen's Disease (leprosy). The ministry reported 13 new cases of leprosy were identified and the people were referred for treatment.
The Majuro screening and treatment programme follows a successful TB screening programme last year on Ebeye Island, the second urban center in the Marshall Islands.
Health officials said last year's screening and treatment programme cut Ebeye's TB rate in half.
"The current TB case load will continue to rise over the next two months ," the ministry said in a report detailing results of the first three weeks of the screening programme.
In addition to the people identified with latent and active TB, "more than 100 individuals with concerning x-rays are awaiting TB culture results from (a laboratory) in Hawaii".
Everyone 10 years and older is receiving a chest x-ray to check for TB. Portable x-ray equipment is on hand at two public elementary schools being used as screening centers.
The ministry said it was screening more than 300 people each day.
Although the ongoing mass-screening programme in Majuro is focused on identifying and treating TB and leprosy, health staff are also screening people for non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
During the first three weeks of the screening, 1017 "high-risk people" were tested for diabetes.
Of these, 277 (27 percent) showed blood sugar levels confirming them as diabetics.