Mozambique: U.S. Pledges Continued Support in Fighting Tuberculosis

24 March 2023
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)

Maputo — The US Embassy in Maputo has pledged that the US will continue "to support Mozambique in taking concrete actions to fight the tuberculosis epidemic'.

An embassy release, issued to mark World Tuberculosis Day, said that "this year alone, approximately 14 million dollars will be invested bilaterally to support TB control activities'.

"Although Mozambique's TB program has made tremendous progress over the past years, the country remains among the 14 countries most affected by TB', added the release. "TB is one of the leading causes of death and the leading cause of death for people living with HIV in Mozambique'.

The United States government, the release said, "has provided direct technical assistance to the National TB Program in Mozambique for more than ten years, focusing on the early diagnosis of TB cases, the integration of TB/HIV services, and the diagnosis and treatment of drug-resistant TB'.

"Thanks to the progress that has been made over this period, we have seen incredible progress in the choices available for treatment', it continued. "For example, in Mozambique, TB patients now have access to treatment they can take at home, effectively minimizing the risk of transmitting the disease to others'.

In collaboration with its partners, the US "has provided financial and technical assistance to the Ministry of Health for testing at health facilities and to improve the capacity of two regional laboratories to provide crucial testing and research'.

The progress made includes a 95.5 per cent rate in detecting TB cases and "an exceptional Drug sensitive TB (DS-TB) treatment success rate of 94%'. There was improvement in the drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) treatment success rate, from 47 per cent in 2017 to 75 per cent in 2022.

Almost 100 per cent of new and relapsed TB patients were offered HIV testing and had their HIV status documented in their clinic files;

The United States Government, the release said, "remains committed to working with Mozambique as part of global efforts to end tuberculosis'

It cited US Ambassador Peter Vrooman as saying 'To be effective, the response must be global, and it must represent a partnership of governments, civil society, affected communities, researchers, the private sector, and international development agencies.'

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