Staff Reporter

Stakeholders in the health sector have applauded the Government for their continued efforts in trying to end tuberculosis in line with Vision 2030.

This came out last Wednesday during the launch of a multi-sectoral accountability framework (MAF) for Tuberculosis (TB) which targets to hasten progress in ending the epidemic by 2030.

Speaking at the launch, Chief Director for Public Health in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Dr Munyaradzi Dobbie said that even though TB was preventable and curable in Zimbabwe it remains one of the leading causes of deaths.

“TB is preventable and curable, however in Zimbabwe it remains one of the leading causes of deaths.The MAF TB aims to reduce death rates by 90 percent, incidence by 80 percent and remove catastrophic costs to patients by the year 2030. Ending TB still remains a priority for the Ministry of Health and Child Care” said Dr Dobbie.

Dr Dobbie further said that in recent years, Zimbabwe has invested heavily in fighting TB by adopting innovative tools and strategies in line with the global best practises.

“Consequently, Zimbabwe is among seven high TB burden countries that have achieved the 2020 milestones of a 20 percent reduction in TB incidences compared to the 2015 baseline and it has adopted innovative strategies and tools aligned to the global best practices” said Dr Dobbie.

Speaking to this publication yesterday, a health practitioner Tinotenda Zvakanaka commended the Government for the strides it has made to make TB a less killer disease.

 “The Government is indeed making sufficient strides against the disease and very soon I foresee us being removed from the list of high burden countries for TB” said Zvakanaka.

Meanwhile, the country has embraced the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended TB diagnostics such as rapid molecular tests that have been deployed in all secondary level health facilities. The adoption of diagnostic equipment to detect second line drug resistance has further boosted case detection.