Parliamentarians have made a commitment to advocate for increased funding for the country's Tuberculosis response in the 2025 national budget as part of measures to prioritise ending TB by 2030.

This came up during an orientation meeting on TB for members of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health in Kadoma yesterday.

The meeting, which was organised by the Stop TB Partnership Zimbabwe with support from the Challenge Facility for Civil Society funding mechanism aimed to improve the legislators' understanding of TB, its impact on communities as well as enhancing advocacy on the disease.

TB remains a major public health concern in Zimbabwe which continues to affect and kill many people, particularly in poor and vulnerable communities.

Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health chairperson Dr Josiah Makombe said funding was one of the biggest challenges drawing back the fight against TB.

"It is our duty to lobby for finance. I want to promise that as we go back and start preparing for consultations on the budget for 2025, that is one area where we need to make sure that the Ministry of Finance allocates a specific grant that deals with TB, not just an allocation to the Ministry of Health. That is our role as legislators to make sure that there is enough allocation to deal with TB," he said.

Funding for TB in Zimbabwe remains low with domestic resources accounting for only 5 percent of the total investment made towards TB.

The remaining 95 percent is funded by donors.