INCREASED TB CASES IN PORTLAND AND NATIONALLY IN 2025
PORT ANTONIO, Portland; March 23, 2026
The Portland Health Department says it has been on a month-long intervention to raise awareness about tuberculosis.
March 24 is observed as World Tuberculosis (TB) Day annually.
(MOH For Portland Dr Sharon Lewis)
Speaking at a recent meeting of the Portland Municipal Corporation, Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Sharon Lewis, said that the disease has significant health, social, and financial impacts.
“We’ll be conducting tuberculosis educational sessions in our health centres, at the hospitals, at two police stations [and] at schools,” Dr. Lewis said.
According to JIS, Dr Lewis advised persons who have a cough for more than two weeks, experience night sweats, weight loss, and fever, to go to their doctor and get checked.
“Tuberculosis still exists. Nationally, there were 60 confirmed cases in 2025, a 13.2 per cent increase from the 53 confirmed cases in 2024. In Portland, there were two confirmed cases in 2025, up from zero case confirmed in 2024,” Dr. Lewis said.
She said that tuberculosis can be cured, but this requires strict adherence to the treatment.
“Close contact of persons with tuberculosis can contract the disease and so should be monitored for a year or two. We want people to be informed and know that tuberculosis is treatable. Persons diagnosed with tuberculosis should also be treated with dignity and should not be stigmatised,” Dr. Lewis said.
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