Thandeka Moyo — Three hospitals in the southern region of Zimbabwe, including Thorngrove Infectious Diseases Hospital in Bulawayo, have been equipped with 10-colour GeneXpert machines to assist in the fight against tuberculosis (TB).
Gwanda and Gweru Provincial hospitals have also been equipped with the machines.
The equipment, valued at US$600 000, is part of the TB REACH partnership between the Government and the Union Zimbabwe Trust (UZT), aimed at reducing the country's disease burden.
DR-TB patients were given food hampers and community health workers identified missed cases and provided treatment support under the project.
The World Health Organisation Global TB report of 2023 stated that Zimbabwe had 18 200 cases of TB, with 242 DR-TB cases notified to its TB Control Programme, in 2022.
In 2021, UZT was among the recipients of the Stop TB Partnership Wave 9 funding awarded to 11 projects across eight countries, focusing on innovative approaches to address drug-resistant TB (DR-TB).
Drug-resistant TB is a form of antimicrobial resistance that is difficult and costly to treat. It is caused by TB bacteria that is resistant to at least one of the existing first-line TB medications, resulting in fewer treatment options and increasing mortality rates.
The TB REACH intervention was multi-pronged as it addressed various facets in response to the burden of DR-TB.
According to the WHO Global TB Report of 2023, TB remains a major public health emergency globally, causing an estimated 1,3 million deaths in 2022.
Community health workers and influential community leaders were oriented on DR-TB and their role in finding missed cases and providing treatment adherence support.
Healthcare workers from the project districts also received training on the advanced clinical management of DR-TB.
UZT executive director, Dr Ronald Ncube, said the project is being implemented across 19 districts in Bulawayo, Matabeleland South and Midlands.
"In Zimbabwe, the two-year project worth US$600 000 was implemented across three provinces across 19 districts selected on account of their disproportionate burden of disease," he said.
"The project goal was to find and treat all people with DR-TB with an ALL oral treatment regimen which is more patient friendly and less toxic to improve treatment adherence and outcomes."
Dr Ncube said the investment from the Stop TB Partnership was catalytic and amplified the voice of people mostly affected by DR-TB.
"The project provided an insight into the burden of DR-TB burden in Zimbabwe, including the catastrophic costs faced by patients afflicted by the disease. The intervention from the Stop TB Partnership was timely, and enabled a collaborative response between the Ministry of Health and Child Care and UZT, in addressing real concerns related to DR-TB in the country," he said.
"As we hand over the project to the Government of Zimbabwe, we are proud of the shared milestones realised in the last two years. We hope that the Ministry of Health and Child Care will sustain the response and ensure nationwide coverage of more patient-centric treatment options for DR-TB."
Under the project, the laboratory personnel operating the machines have been trained on how to use the equipment.
Bulawayo City Council health director, Dr Edwin Mzingwane, said the equipment acquired for Thorngrove Infectious Disease Hospital has helped screen more patients.
"We are grateful for the equipment and the training that we got during the project. It will surely help improve our services and we have been able to avert deaths through timeous interventions," he said.
"The machine that we got helps us detect extreme drug-resistant TB, which is deadlier and expensive to treat. Unlike in the past, we are now able to make interventions quicker as we will get the immediate results."
Dr Mzingwane said their health personnel got intensive training on paediatric TB and other types of TB.
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Dr Buhlebenkosi Ndlovu from Thorngrove Infectious Disease Hospital said the machine received has made the diagnosis process easier and faster.
"It has made TB diagnosis, especially DR-TB, faster as a patient can now be initiated on treatment already knowing whether they are fluoroquinolone-resistant or sensitive. The clinician knows from the onset what they would be dealing with," he said.
"This special piece of equipment can establish the resistance profile of a wider spectrum of anti-TB medicines."
At the project handover, 617 community leaders, across the 19 project districts received orientation on DR-TB and these included chiefs, headmen, village heads, religious leaders and councillors.
The project also trained 483 community health workers and 93 skilled healthcare workers in the supported districts.
During the project, 199 people were diagnosed with DR-TB and 186 were initiated on treatment.
