By Mohammed Manfalouti – HIBAPRESS
Today, Morocco celebrates World Tuberculosis Day, which coincides with March 24th, an occasion that the Ministry in charge of the sector sees as an opportunity to enhance early detection and adopt new short-term preventive treatment protocols, especially for those most vulnerable to the disease, such as people in contact with pulmonary tuberculosis patients, and people living with HIV, to ensure effective protection against this disease.
As we speak about the efforts made to address this serious disease, the question remains: why hasn't the Ministry of Health and Social Protection reopened the tuberculosis hospital in the capital of Ben Ahmed city, this health facility that has turned into ruins? A hospital that for decades provided its great services to tuberculosis patients, who came to it individually and in groups from different regions, due to its strategic location and its distinguished healthy environmental space with towering trees that have witnessed generations, surrounding a building built by the French colonizer and allocated for the treatment of chest diseases, asthma, and tuberculosis. Its choice of place did not come arbitrarily, but rather as a strategic choice, because of the healthy and pure atmosphere that the region is known for, which fulfills the purpose, as patients used to enter it on stretchers and leave it walking. It is the building of the tuberculosis hospital, which was built by the French in the middle of a forest of green trees to combat respiratory diseases since 1941, before the officials of the Ministry of Health intervened to close it in 2004, turning this building into something like ruins, while its rare trees have become at the mercy of environmental enemies, lurking in its forest wealth to destroy and eradicate it in front of the eyes of the officials. This health facility, which has been affected by the hands of closure and burial, was built by the French colonizer on an area of 3483 square meters, consisting of 4 floors, including the underground floor, and a capacity of nearly 80 beds, it used to receive patients from different regions of Morocco and abroad, and the duration of hospitalization lasted from two weeks to three months, supervised by medical staff exceeding 24 elements, distributed between specialist doctors, nurses, administrative and technical staff, and assistants. The question remains, and strongly on the table of the Minister of Health and Social Protection, which is: "Why have the concerned authorities not reopened this hospital?", knowing that the Ministry of Health and Social Protection confirmed earlier that it pays special attention to the aspect of taking care of latent tuberculosis cases, which it considers as one of the priority measures that effectively contribute to achieving the goal of eradicating tuberculosis, in line with the national strategic plan for the prevention and control of tuberculosis for the period 2024-2030, where it made preventive treatment one of the main pillars for combating this disease. Many health affairs enthusiasts wondered about the fate of patients carrying this deadly virus, who have come to share councils with citizens in cafes, buses, and the public street, exposing everyone to the specter of infection, at a time when the infected person was obliged to adhere and not leave the sickbed for fear of the spread of infection, and not leave the walls of this hospital until he recovers? As Morocco celebrates World Tuberculosis Day, we sincerely hope that this gesture will be a strong signal to shed light on the reality of the tuberculosis hospital in Ahmed city, and to restore life to it instead of burying it and turning it into an easy prey in the mouth of cement box merchants, and a way to destroy its natural wealth of eternal pine trees in the service of the enemies of the environment.
