Zimbabwe now has enough of the critical tuberculosis drugs in public health institutions to last for six months, director of the AIDS and TB Unit in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Owen Mugurungi has said.
This follows reports that most health facilities in Harare and Chitungwiza had reported an acute shortage of the drugs used to treat the disease, causing disruption in the control of TB.
Speaking on the sidelines of an orientation meeting on TB for members of the Parliamentary Portfolio committee on Health in Kadoma yesterday, Dr Mugurungi said the Government had sourced the drugs and patients could now access medication to last them for a month.
"So over the past few months Zimbabwe had been experiencing shortages of TB medicines. We are happy to announce that as the Ministry, we have received stocks for at least six months of TB medicines which should alleviate that challenge. At the moment, the facilities are receiving their TB medicines and the medicines should be available in all the health institutions, more so in the facilities that were worst affected in the city of Harare, Ruwa, Goromonzi and other areas," he said.
In those instances where people were receiving supplies for one week, the availability of medicines meant they could now access medicines to last them for up to one month. The medicines used by Zimbabwe in the treatment of TB include rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol and pyrazinamide.
"The problem has been resolved, we have the drugs and we hope that this can go a long way in alleviating the challenges that we have faced before," added Dr Mugurungi.
Zimbabwe National Network of TB Survivors Harare province chairperson Mr Stanely Sibanda said the shortage of TB medicines had been a cause for concern for survivors and their families.
"We experienced challenges of shortages of TB medicines in the past few months and this meant people who were diagnosed with TB had to travel around in search of both the initial phase medicines and the continuation phase drugs. We are thankful that this challenge has been resolved and clinics have begun to receive medicines. This is a good development and will go a long way towards ensuring that no one dies from TB which can be treated as long as there are medicines," he said.
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According to the World Health Organisation, nearly 10 million people fall ill with TB globally, and 1,5 million people die from the disease each year.
Zimbabwe is among the most affected countries in the world with an estimated TB incidence of 204 per 100 000 population in 2022.
