World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative Jacob Mufunda says his organisation will continue to render its support in the provision of TB drugs in order to reduce the prevalence rate by half which is currently at three million new cases in Africa.
And Copperbelt Provincial Medical Officer Consity Mwale says the province has enough Tuberculosis (TB) drugs to ensure that the disease is contained in the province.
Dr. Mufunda told ZANIS in an interview in Ndola today that globally there are about nine million new cases of TB of which three million is from the continent of Africa.
He said WHO has funds to support the disease as it aims to reduce the death rate of TB to fifty percent by the year 2025.
The issue of TB is not only for the Ministry of Health but that it needs innovative measures by all stakeholders to ensure that the death rate of TB is reduced, said the WHO representative.
He said WHO has the commitment to support, create awareness from partners and communities on TB as it is a major problem and that the organisation will solicit for more resource from stakeholders to support the containment of the disease.
And Copperbelt Provincial Medical Officer Consity Mwale says the province has enough Tuberculosis (TB) drugs to ensure that the disease is contained in the province.
Dr. Mwale said March 23, being world TB day the province will be commemorating the day with a view to creating awareness among all the people that Tb can be prevented and is curable.
He has since called on people not to stigmatize patients with TB as the disease is curable and called on people who have suspected TB symptoms to seek medical treatment early in order to contain the disease.
TB being a long term disease and that the province has no challenges with drugs because of the support that the Ministry of Health receives from its cooperating partners which include WHO, he said.
He said the province values the partnership that it has with WHO as the organisation is one of the players that has been helping in the fight against different diseases.
The WHO team is in Ndola to commemorate World Tb day whose theme for the year is, “Unity to End TB.”
