The Sunday Mail
Tafadzwa Kadani
The treatment of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) will soon be decentralised to all 10 provinces, the Health and Child Care Ministry has said.
The decentalisation comes as Zimbabwe grapples with an increase in DR-TB cases.
DR-TB is mostly treated at Wilkins and Nazareth hospitals in Harare and Thorngrove Hospital in Bulawayo.
Tuberculosis is an infectious bacterial disease caused by mycobacterium tuberculosis, which most commonly affect the lungs.
It is transmitted via droplets from the throat and lungs of people with the active respiratory disease.
DR-TB is used to describe strains of TB that show resistance to one or more first-line TB drugs, and is an umbrella term encompassing MDR-TB and XDR-TB.
Deputy director for HIV/Aids and TB in the Health Ministry Dr Charles Sandy recently announced that Government had set aside US$400 000 to upgrade specialised DR-TB treatment sites.
Provinces will now identify the hospitals to be used as treatment sites/centres after considering issues such as accessibility.
Director for the HIV/Aids and TB Unit in the Health Ministry Dr Owen Mugurungi said decentralisation would ease the burden on nursing staff and also ensure patients were attended to on time.
“Distributing TB treatment in the country will condense the burden on Wilkins, Nazareth and Thorngrove Hospitals and ensure that most patients are attended to country wide.
“What we need to do is to equip the existing nursing staff with skills and knowledge on how to treat DR-TB,” explained Dr Mukurungi.
Mrs Tariro Makanga-Chikumbirike – head of media, marketing and public relations at Southern Africa HIV and Aids Information Dissemination Service – said decentralisation was a welcomen development.
“By establishing the centres around the country, it will be easier for people to access treatment early once they have been detected to be having TB.
“Early diagnosis and treatment will mean that people will also not infect others whilst they are in their latent stages,” she said.
The decentralisation of DR-TB treatment will also ease the economic burden that patients incur when they travel long distances for medical attention.
“Patients have to be accompanied by someone to the hospital and this means more money especially for those with DR-TB,” Dr Mugurungi added.
He said people with DB-TR had to take their medication for up to two years, unlike those with “normal” TB.
“A patient with DB-TR might have to be admitted in the hospital for about a month or two and someone coming from far away needs to be closer to their home thus the decentralisation. Being admitted will ensure that they are closely monitored and also prevent further spread of the disease,” said Dr Mugurungi.
A major driver of DR-TB is that those staying with patients are not well-informed about its treatment.
Dr Mugurungi said, “Health is not a Government responsibility only but it starts from individual level to Government level, thus we want to engage the communities as much as possible through educating them.
“This will help reduce TB prevalence in Zimbabwe.”
A key issue that needs to be dealt with is providing patients with the ideal diet to aid recovery.
Dr Mugurungi said it was incumbent upon communities and Government to help by availing food for TB patients considering the current drought.
Dr Christopher Zishiri, country director at the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease-Zimbabwe said: “DR-TB can be as a result of being infected by a patient who is already suffering from a drug resistant TB bacteria.
“Actually, we are seeing a very strong correlation between drug resistance and Zimbabweans in Diaspora particularly the southern part of Africa.”
