International campaigners want new investments to eradicate TB in Africa
What is stopping the fight against TB in Africa?
The goal of eradicating TB in Africa could be achieved ahead of the proposed 2030 deadline if governments, industry, and donors provide additional resources to support early TB diagnosis, treatment, and development of vaccines, international health campaigners said on Wednesday.
Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of Stop TB Partnership, an international health team, emphasized that strong funding, capacity building, and awareness creation are essential to developing measures that are effective against bacterial respiratory infections, prevalent in Africa.
Commenting on the timely launch of the Global Plan to End TB, 2023-2030, Ditiu noted that eradicating air-borne disease in Africa requires prudent investment in monitoring, testing, treatment, and care.
While acknowledging that the heavy burden of TB has hampered Africa's economic growth without increasing the vulnerability of the continent's public health systems, Ditiu said countries should use home resources, collaborative research, and the distribution of new medical and diagnostic tools to contain the disease.
The 2020 World Health Organization (WHO) Global TB Report estimates that 2.5 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have tuberculosis (TB), accounting for 25 percent of the total global population.
More than half a million deaths or one-third of the world's total recorded in sub-Saharan Africa by 2020, according to WHO.
Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the Global TB Program at WHO noted that Africa is one of 17 out of 30 countries listed by the UN health organization as the largest carrier of the disease. He added that more than 1.1 million people could not access TB screening and treatment on the continent, which was the worst predictor of the COVID-19 epidemic.
He said Africa was facing a huge 44% funding gap that had hampered efforts to eradicate TB, which was why there was a need to look at new ways to make money.
Paula Fujiwara, Chairperson of the Global Plan Task Force for Stop TB Partnership said Africa should invest in digital tools to improve the diagnosis and control of TB. According to Fujiwara, other interventions that could speed up the detection of a TB-free continent on continent by 2030 include investing in short-term but effective treatment options.
blogpay
