Phillip Mwebaza
The Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) of Zimbabwe has collaborated with the World Health Organization (WHO) to perform an external review of the country’s Tuberculosis Preventive Therapy (TPT) program management.
The Zimbabwean government implemented shorter TPT regimens through the MoHCC in 2020 to guarantee that high-risk persons, especially people living with HIV, have access to shorter and safer tuberculosis preventive medication to prevent TB illness.
Zimbabwe has also implemented and adapted the new WHO consolidated TB recommendations, and the nation has been recognized as one of the world’s leaders in the implementation of shorter TPT.
The external assessment of TB preventive treatment provided Zimbabwe with a chance to get a better understanding of the lessons learned in the implementation of TPT, with the goal of informing future strategies and accelerating the key intervention rollout.
The external evaluation of TB preventive treatment, funded by UNITAID and held in Zimbabwe from the 5th to the 8th of July 2022, provided a chance for the country to exchange guiding principles with other countries across the world.
Other funding sources for the external evaluation of Tuberculosis Preventive Therapy programme management in Zimbabwe include the Global Fund, PEPFAR, USCDC, UNITAID, and USAID, among others.
Furthermore, the review will supplement increased expenditures across the TB continuum of care for TB patients’ home contacts by boosting contact investigation activities as an entrance point to TB treatment and TB Preventative Therapy.
The event brought together TB specialists from Aurum Institute, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric Foundation, Jointed Hands, Rehabilitation and Prevention of Tuberculosis (RAPT), Stop TB Partnership Zimbabwe, and The Union Zimbabwe Trust.
The external evaluation on preventative therapy comes at a time when Zimbabwe is significantly burdened by TB, TB/HIV, and Multi-Drug Resistant TB (MDR-TB); for example, 11.58 per cent of the country’s adults are infected with HIV, and the TB predicted incidence in 2020 is 193/100,000 persons.
Dr Charles Sandy, Deputy Director of AIDS and Tuberculosis Programmes at the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), acknowledged the assistance given by donor agencies and technical partners, highlighting that a report based on the review will be produced to aid Zimbabwe in developing an action plan to enhance the roll out of TB preventive therapy.