“When I was diagnosed with tuberculosis 11 years ago, I was stigmatised by my family and community; a thing I would not even wish on the worst of my enemies. My life was saved by the treatment I got at Kangemi Health Centre and psychosocial support from a friend. The experience taught me that if I create awareness on TB and support for TB patients in the community, no one will undergo what I went through. We will reduce TB in our community and more lives will be saved,” recounts 29-year-old Steve Anguva, a former TB patient and TB champion.
Steve Anguva, a TB/HIV champion in a strategic meeting with members of the Pamoja Group, an advocacy group he started 11 years ago to support TB/HIV patients in their locality of Kangemi, Nairobi.
After fully recovering, Steve formed a patient support group: Pamoja group that is made up of former and current TB patients. Some of the members are HIV infected as TB is one of the opportunist disease among persons living with HIV, due to immune suppression. Since then, with the guidance of Steve as the chair, the group has been creating awareness on TB/HIV as well as supporting patients to adhere and complete their treatment. The group has spread its wings beyond Kangemi locality to the larger Westlands Sub-county.
Just as was the case in the majority of health facilities in Kenya when COVID-19 struck, there was a disruption in the uptake of health services in Steve’s neighbourhood. Clients shunned away from seeking health services and patients on treatment skipped clinical reviews and drug refills.
Noting the negative impact this would have on his community, Steve mobilised his group members to conduct house to house awareness on TB/HIV and the need to seek health services.
He also assisted in creating treatment linkages for patients, who had traveled upcountry and got locked out of the city during the government imposed lockdown, to get treatment in the nearest facilities.
Steve Anguva during a home visit to one of the many TB/HIV patients he supports in Kangemi, Nairobi Kenya.
Steve’s intervention has bore fruit as, “We were able to follow up with at least 80% of the clients from the 5 health facilities we support in the sub county, ensuring they have access to medication and they are adhering amid the COVID-19 pandemic,’ he says.
Catherine Sisia one of the beneficiaries notes, “I was desperate before I met Steve but now I feel a sense of belonging. Through his support, I was able to come to the facility and get treatment after he convinced me that health services were ongoing despite the COVID-19 pandemic.”
USAID Tuberculosis Accelerated Response and Care II program implemented by Centre for Health Solutions-Kenya partners with Kenya’s Ministry of Health-National TB Program to support the Stop TB Partnership-Kenya initiative. Through this partnership, TB champions like Steve learn to create awareness in their communities, support patients’ understanding of treatment, and conduct peer-to-peer learning sessions. A celebrated youth, he also represents the 70 TB champions in Kenya who have been trained to support, inform, and educate his peers and community on TB and its opportunistic diseases among them HIV/AIDS.