Failures to Complete Treatment Worsen TB Scourge. 5/10/2010
The national TB strategy seeks to reduce mortality, morbidity and transmission of tuberculosis in Zimbabwe.
5 October 2010
Harare — Government is concerned by the increasing cases of tuberculosis patients who are defaulting on treatment saying this will result in deadly multiple drug resistant tuberculosis.
The increasing number of patients failing to complete treatment courses is militating against the national strategy to combat the ailment.
The national TB strategy seeks to reduce mortality, morbidity and transmission of tuberculosis in Zimbabwe.
Of all cases detected last year, 9 percent of the patients failed to complete the treatment course, increasing chances of multiple drug resistant versions.
Speaking at a workshop on HIV and TB organised by the Southern African HIV and Aids Information Dissemination Service last week, the Deputy Director HIV and TB Unit, Dr Charles Sandy, said the normal defaulter rate should be below 5 percent.
"Statistics from the country's provinces show that 9 percent of the total patients detected of TB are not completing their course of drugs.
"This high level of defaulters is not good for the country that is battling to tame the disease that has worsened with the spread of HIV and Aids in Zimbabwe.
"The situation has been worsened by shortage of environmental health technicians to trace defaulters," he said.
Statistics show Midlands province had the highest number of defaulters at 22, followed by Manicaland with 12 and Matabeleland North with 11 patients.
Dr Sandy said less than 30 percent of environmental health technician vacancies were filled and the Government had not been able to retain the technicians.
"Government will soon be embarking on an 18-month programme for EHTs to bridge the gap between demand and availability of these technicians. Shortage of health technicians has been worsened by increased HIV and Aids cases," he said.
The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare was forced to stop TB contact tracing in early 2000 after increased demand of the service prompted by the advent of the disease.
Dr Sandy said increased defaulting by patients was likely to lead to heightened fears of multiple drug resistant version of the disease.
He said the ministry was finding it difficult to deal with defaulters who when they started feeling better would rush to South Africa to look for work before completing treatment.
TB is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and released into the air during coughing by an infected person.
Government has targeted to detect 70 percent of all TB cases and successfully treat 85 percent of them to minimise the economic burden caused by disease on families and communities.
It also seeks to eliminate TB as a public health problem in Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe, diagnosis and treatment of TB is free. This was done to make sure the disease is contained and does not remain a national problem.
According to statistics by the HIV, Aids and TB Unit, TB treatment rate was still way below the 85 percent target set by Government, hence the need to scale up the treatment literacy in the country.