Chitungwiza: 27 March 2014 - Zimbabwe held a belated World TB Day Commemoration under the theme “Reach the 3 million” and the slogan “Find. Treat. Cure TB”. The belated commemoration was held at Chitungwiza Town Centre in the dormitory town of Chitungwiza, about 30km from Harare. Mem- bers of the public from the town, partners and government officials were part of the well-attended commemoration.

In his remarks read on his behalf by the DPC Officer Dr Lincoln Charimari, the WHO Representative in Zimbabwe Dr David Okello noted that although there has been global progress in the fight against TB current efforts to find, treat and cure everyone who gets ill with the disease are not sufficient. He expressed concern over the fact that out of the 9 million people a year who get sick with TB, a third of them, 3 million people are "missed" by health systems every year. “Many of these 3 million people live in the world’s poorest, most vulnerable communities or are among marginalised populations such as migrant workers, refugees and internally displaced persons, prison- ers, indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities and drug users,” Said Dr Okello. The remarks reiterated WHO’s continued support to the Government of Zimbabwe in the fight against TB.

The Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa who was the guest of honour at the commemoration expressed concern at the number of missed TB cases in the country. He noted that based on the WHO projections, the country may have missed 30,000 cases in 2013 alone. Dr Parirenyatwa said, “We continue to miss cases because of stigma and lack of awareness in the community and limitations in access to health services as well as the quality of health services”. He further noted the need for intensified efforts in the prevention, early detection and treatment of the disease. Speaking on HIV and TB, Dr Parirenyatwa noted that although the Ministry of Health and Child Care has adopted an integrated approach to the management of HIV and TB co-infections the area still needs strengthening. “There remains a disparity in the ART coverage in TB patients which is around 75% against the desired 100%,” Said Dr Parirenyatwa. He concluded by encouraging everyone to be involved as the country steps up efforts to reach the missed TB cases with diagnosis and treatment.

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