By Khumbo Kaliwo:
Malawi is winning the fight against tuberculosis (TB), National TB and Leprosy Elimination Programme Manager James Mpunga has said.
Mpunga disclosed that the country’s TB incidence rate is at 125 per 100,000, which he said means in the past five years, Malawi has reduced the incidence rate by 37 percent.
He added that Malawi has reduced TB mortality rate by 49 percent when compared with 2015 statistics.
“So far, Malawi has reached a 90 percent treatment success rate and we want to go above that. This is a very good indicator for our country as we target to reach 97 percent by 2030,” Mpunga said in Lilongwe Thursday ahead of this year’s World TB Day which falls on March 24.
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On the other hand, he expressed worry over continued stigma and discrimination against TB patients in their communities.
Mpunga said the vices are among those that are pulling back the fight against the condition, which mainly affects the lungs and can spread when a person with it coughs or sneezes.
TB and HIV Technical Officer for the World Health Organisation, Ishmael Nyasulu, stressed the need for Malawi to have a resilient health system that is able to respond to emergencies as they come and ensure that routine services continue.
“As a country, we have faced multiple emergencies of late, but these should not affect provision of routine services like TB treatment,” Nyasulu said.
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One of the emergencies that brought Malawi’s healthcare system to its knees was the Covid pandemic which resulted in over 2,600 deaths from the 89,535 cases that the country registered.
World TB Day commemorations will be held in Mulanje District, with Health Minister Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda expected to be the guest of honour.
Meanwhile, Malawi is among seven countries expected to participate in a large clinical trial of a TB vaccine candidate to evaluate if it can protect adolescents and adults from pulmonary TB.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI) on Tuesday announced that a Phase 3 clinical trial to assess the efficacy of the vaccine candidate is now underway.
First doses have been given in South Africa, where TB takes a heavy toll.
“At full capacity, the trial will include up to 20,000 participants, including people living with HIV, at up to 60 trial sites in seven countries—South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Kenya, Indonesia and Vietnam,” a statement by Gates MRI says.
