The Kingdom of Eswatini joined the rest of the world in commemorating World TB Day 2021. The country celebrated the tremendous strides made in the fight against Tuberculosis. The celebration was held under the theme: The clock is ticking, ending TB in the time of COVID 19. The theme reiterates the importance of continuing with the fight despite the ongoing pandemic.  

Eswatini has come a long way in the fight against TB amidst the high prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection, rise in drug-resistant forms of TB as well as high burden of non-communicable diseases. The declaration of TB as an emergency in the country on 24 March 2011 propelled efforts towards fighting the disease. There has been strong high-level political commitment, multisectoral and whole of government approaches to TB prevention and control. 

Through the implementation of different strategies, new TB infections decreased by 80% from more than 11 000 cases in 2011 to about 2 000 cases in 2020. The TB treatment success rate is at 86%, just 4% less than the global target of 90% which the country is endeavouring to achieve soon. This means many TB patients are cured including those with drug-resistant TB and lives are saved. Through the introduction of innovative diagnostic techniques, like the GeneXpert, confirmatory diagnosis is made within 2 hours, and patients linked to care promptly. Patients used to wait for 2 weeks before getting TB test results. There has been an increase in the uptake of preventive measures such as TB Preventive Therapy (TPT). The deployment of community health workers and TB case finders who conduct door-to-door community engagement activities has contributed towards attaining these highlighted achievements.

The celebration was held semi-virtual with some participants joining the proceedings via the zoom platform. Those that were physically present at the Happy Valley Hotel in Ezulwini included the Minister of Health Senator Lizzie Nkosi, Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Simon Zwane, the United States of America  Ambassador, Her Excellency Jeanne Maloney, Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Head of Mission, Dr. Bernhard Kerschberger, Dr. Khosi Mthethwa who represented the WHO Country Representative, Dr. Cornelia Atsyor,  members of the Parliamentary TB coccus and Senior officials in the Ministry of Health.

In her remarks, Senator Nkosi reminded the nation of the long, difficult journey the country endured in the fight against TB as well as the number of lives lost and the impact of TB on communities, families, and individuals. “We recognize that TB continues to be a menace to our people, hence we cannot relax but intensify our efforts and strategies towards eliminating this scourge in the nation,” she said.

The Minister also highlighted that TB continues to be a major public health threat in the country. She also noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the continuity of essential health services and threatens the progress made in TB service delivery over the years. However, she said, together with government partners the country has built resilient health care systems, dynamic enough to embrace unforeseen challenges like COVID-19, without stopping critical services like TB/HIV and other diseases.

Dr. Khosi Mthethwa speaking on behalf of the WHO Representative applauded the government of Eswatini for its commitment to ending TB, which has led to the impressive significant decline in the country’s TB burden. Eswatini is counted among the countries that have made significant progress in reducing new TB cases and deaths. Dr. Mthethwa noted that the Kingdom of Eswatini is among the early adopters of the WHO guidelines and policies. She further applauded the government commitment towards the procurement of life-saving TB medicines including the newly recommended oral short regimens for Drug-Resistant TB.

The country has made significant progress towards attaining the milestones set in 2020. However, there is still a need to accelerate efforts toward finding the missing TB cases, scale-up access to TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services in Eswatini. The clock is ticking, ending TB in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic is possible.