Isaac Kuria, took drugs for an unknown ailment for one full year before he could bear the pain anymore.

During that period, he did repeat visits to Mama Lucy Hospital, but the pain, coughing persistently, and uncontrollable night sweats continued.

One day he decided, “Enough is enough” and visited Nairobi County Government’s managed Rhodes Chest Clinic.

“So, I took a chest x-ray and took sputum samples, and the results turned out to be positive, and I was put on treatment,” said Kuria, confirming that early detection is important in having Tuberculosis healed appropriately even as it was revealed yesterday even as it emerged that 23, 000 people died from TB last year when it was noticed that 124, 000 people were infected with the disease.

More startlingly, it was revealed that every two hours a person dies from respiratory disease and 266 fall ill. Kuria spoke to People Daily at Jevanjee Gardens where the MoH, the County Government of Nairobi and various partners and TB survivors have been carrying out a screening exercise since Saturday.

By yesterday about 400 people had been screened for the disease.

According to Edel Sakwa from the Light Consortium, reflecting on the TB Status Report for 2024, 14 people died from the disease on average, every two hours.

“We came to this room at 7 am in the morning. How many hours are those? From 7 to now, how many hours are those? Six, Five hours.

“So, while we were here, 55 people have got TB, and secondly, three people lost their lives as a result of TB,” she said at a Nairobi hotel where the African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) and the Ministry of Health hosted media science cafe on the World TB Day 2025 celebrations.

The theme for World TB Day 2025 is “Yes! We Can End TB: Commit, Invest, deliver” which highlights the need for sustained commitment, increased funding, and effective prevention and control measures across the global network.

Back to Kuria, the TB survivor, has gone back to Rhodes Chest Clinic twice since he was declared free of the disease in April last year, and received the same results that he had healed.

“For now, I am calling on Kenyans to go for regular screening. So, it’s important for people to keep going for screening,” he said. Before his predicament, Kuria was weighing 56 kilos, which declined quickly to 49 and now 45.

He religiously honoured his prescription, and the results came out after completing the treatment regimen that he had healed, and decided to start preaching awareness for the disease. He spends most of his time now talking about the disease.

In 2019, Carolyne Wangari was a student at Moi University when she was diagnosed with the disease. She was experiencing night sweats, pain in the chest and joints coughed persistently, and could only do with antibiotics before she made a decision to go for screening.

“I did several tests, and the doctor only prescribed antibiotics. However, twice checking for the disease, nothing was seen, and even the third time, visiting different hospitals for a period of three months I was told it was pneumonia.

“But when the pain persisted, I decided to go for a chest X-ray and was positively diagnosed for TB, and was placed on treatment. Now I am healed,” she said as it also emerged that the country requires up to $136 million (Sh18 billion), but with a funding gap of $93 million (Sh12 billion) to address the TB burden in Kenya.

Margaret Mwangi, a TB champion in Nakuru County called on the government to relook into the TB policies to help Kenyans to manage it.

Call for policies

“It is very important that we allow people who have gone through this disease to give the true story of TB and the journey they have walked in order to have policies that can help us defeat it,” she said

She recollected that when TB champions came together and decided it was time to form the TB network, it was from those who had survived TB, and took care of people with TB. It is those who had an experience. “That is our whole difference, which we are saying, these are the people who have put on the shoe, they know where the pinch is most, and so when they are talking about that person or talking about TB, it is all about the person,” she said.

Public Health and Professional Standards Principal Secretary, Mary Muthoni said communities are the frontline warriors in the battle against TB, and their active participation strengthens TB prevention and care programs by tailoring interventions to local contexts and needs.

“Engaging communities in identifying TB risk factors, implementing interventions, and supporting affected individuals fosters ownership and sustainability,” she said.