Cases notified by Lupane are from all over Matabeleland North province, including Bulawayo.
“We have these huge notifications because people come and seek treatment at St Luke’s Mission Hospital as there is an abundance of drugs and doctors. It is much cheaper to seek treatment there than at other hospitals in the city,” he said.
He welcomed the notification rate as evidence that people were coming forward and being tested for TB.
“It takes a multi partner approach in the fight against TB involving all sectors – including political commitment which increases funding and public private partnerships and most importantly a sensitized community through the efforts of the media,” said Dhodho.
TB remains curable if everyone adheres to the DOTS (Directly Observed Therapy-Short course) approach.
This is where every patient who is started on TB treatment takes their medicines daily in the presence of a health worker or trained community observer and is tested at the end.
With the support of donor partners, Zimbabwe is in the process of training community based observers. Lupane has got a high loss-to-follow-up rate, (patients who start treatment at St Lukes but fail to return for reviews later).
This is usually due to costs of transport. And when people feel fine they abandon treatment, which in turn leads to Multiple Drug Resistant TB (MDRTB).
Post published in: Health