The Sunday News
THE country’s southern region has over the years recorded a significant decline in its tuberculosis prevalence rate, despite the region still bearing the heaviest burden of the disease in the country compared to other areas.
Four provinces, Bulawayo, Midlands, Matabeleland North and South make up the southern region.
Statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Child Care show that the country has an average TB prevalence rate of 547 per every 100 000 people with the southern region recording 500 per 100 000, which is the highest figure.
The eastern region averages about 300 TB cases per every 100 000 population, while the northern region averages 300 per every 100 000 population.
In the southern region, Matabeleland South has the highest burden of 346 cases per every 100 000 people, followed by Bulawayo with 340 cases per every 100 000 people.
Matabeleland North has 250 cases per every 100 000 with the Midlands recording the lowest prevalence rate of 222 per every 100 000.
However, figures from the Ministry of Health show that over the past five years, there has been a significant decline in TB prevalence in the southern region, a trend that has been attributed to better health seeking behaviour by people from the region.
In 2010, Matabeleland South province had a TB prevalence rate of 447 per every 100 000 population while the prevalence rate in Bulawayo has gone down from 497.
Matabeleland North’s TB prevalence rate decreased from 399 per every 100 000 in 2010 while in the Midlands province the prevalence rate went down from 287 in the same year.
“Generally people from the region have responded well to our programmes, which is why there has been significant and notable decline in the prevalence rate of TB in the region. A quick glance at the statistics will show us that a lot of progress has been made in the region and that the region is responding better than other parts of the country,” said the deputy director of HIV and Aids and TB in the ministry, Dr Charles Sandy, while making a presentation at a National Aids Council workshop in Kadoma on Thursday last week.
Touching on the high TB burden in the southern region, Dr Sandy said the migration of locals to South Africa and Botswana was the major cause of high incidences of the disease as South Africa had a higher TB prevalence rate compared to Zimbabwe.
“We suspect that the reason the burden is high is related to the higher cases of HIV and Aids being recorded in the southern parts of the country.
“Migration to South Africa and Botswana for the population in the southern part of the country is high compared to the rest of the country. Population statistics for 2012 census shows that there has been not much increase in population in the southern region and we believe that most of that population is going to South Africa.
“South Africa has a burden of much higher TB cases than Zimbabwe which stands at around 1 000 per 100 000 population according to statistics released by the World Health Organisation. When people go to South Africa they are exposed to the disease and at the same time they do not have access to services because most of them are illegal immigrants. As a result they come home when they are not feeling well which ultimately leads to the continued spread of the disease in the community,” he said.
Over the past years, Zimbabwe has managed to reduce its TB prevalence rate from 603 per 100 000 to 500.
Dr Sandy attributed the decline to accelerated access to diagnosis through the adoption of new technologies.
He commended Bulawayo, for having the best TB services in the country which he said was due to an early integration of TB programmes into the general health services, as well as the political will by Bulawayo City Council to tackle the disease.
“Bulawayo is performing well in rolling out TB services because programmes for the disease were integrated early into the general health services with the nurses taking an active role in TB services. This is in contrast to how the TB programmes are being managed in other parts of the country.
“There is very strong political commitment on the part of council. There is also strong commitment on the part of Bulawayo City Council towards TB and HIV and Aids control activities,” he said.
Zimbabwe is working on a new National TB Strategic Plan which will succeed the present plan whose tenure ends in December.
The main thrust of the upcoming plan is to ensure that more resources are channeled towards TB and HIV and Aids programmes in the country.
