It is imperative that the aspiring public health professionals and researchers marshal all their energy and efforts towards improving the health and development of the societies that are still riddled with infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. Despite the much progress that has been made by the DOT program, the efforts to control tuberculosis has been plagued by poor treatment adherence. This has subsequently led to relapse and drug resistance. Coming up with slogans presents the easiest and possible manner through which the burden of tuberculosis can be achieved. Tuberculosis affects many people, and it is the second leading killer globally (Rana et al., 2015). Therefore, it is strongly recommended that emphasis should be put on the significance of raising public consciousness about tuberculosis, its complications and the benefits of reinforcing the message using novel management programs (Naidoo, & Taylor, 2013). For this reason, slogans about what the society ought to do to stop tuberculosis must be persuasive, easy to understand, memorable and based on evidence (Jones, 2012). Thus, a slogan suffices.
Slogan: SCREENING AND TREATMENT BEAT THE MONSTER (TB)
When developing slogans to raise awareness about TB, the following factors should be considered:
Target audience; This can include children, adults, adolescents, public, policy-makers or organizations (www.stoptb.org, n.d))
The appropriate media to be used; This can include comical books for young children, social media for teenagers, documentaries for adults, theatrical events for the public, and seminars for policy makers and organizations (www.stoptb.org, n.d).
The level of literacy: The implementing persons such as nurses should be well-trained to sustain the patients' knowledge. Patients' knowledge about TB and treatment program determines a better outcome of the therapy and equips them with better self-care (Carlsson et al., 2014).
Political goodwill: According to Atkins et al. (2012), the successful implementation of a program for which a slogan is developed depends on the political climate of a nation, which forms the backbone of policy makers required to influence changes in the healthcare sector.
References
Atkins, S., Lewin, S., Ringsberg, K. C., & Thorson, A. (2012). Towards an empowerment approach in tuberculosis treatment in Cape Town, South Africa: a qualitative analysis of programmatic change. Global Health Action, 5, 10.3402/gha.v5i0.14385. http://doi.org/10.3402/gha.v5i0.14385
Carlsson, M., Johansson, S., Eale, R. P. B., & Kaboru, B. B. (2014). Nurses’ roles and experiences with enhancing adherence to tuberculosis treatment among patients in Burundi: a qualitative study. Tuberculosis research and treatment, 2014.
Naidoo, S., & Taylor, M. (2013). Association between South African high-school learners' knowledge about tuberculosis and their intention to seek healthcare. Global Health Action 6, 1-8.
Rana, M., Sayem, A., Karim, R., Islam, N., Islam, R., Zaman, T. K., & Hossain, G. (2015). Assessment of knowledge regarding tuberculosis among non-medical university students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study. BMC public health, 15(1), 716.
Jones, B (2012). Spreading the word about seasonal influenza. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 90(4), 252–253. http://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.12.030412
www.stoptb.org. (n.d). Champions against Tuberculosis a partnership: A Practical Guide to Collaborative Partnership with National Celebrities. Available at http://www.stoptb.org/assets/documents/resources/publications/acsm/handbook_champions_Web.pdf
