By Ntokozo Magongo
MBABANE – It’s all good news for Eswatini as the Prime Minister (PM) Russell Dlamini has reported that the country has achieved a steady decline of TB cases over the years.
The country stood at 318 cases for every 100 000 people in 2020 from 1 382 per 100 000 people affected in 2013. The PM was addressing the media during the Editors Forum on Thursday at Mountain View, Mbabane.
Dlamini said there were still cases of TB that were attended to.
The PM was asked how many TB patients were currently under treatment and where? He said under Drug Susceptible TB patients, there are 1 246 and they were being treated from home (ambulatory care) under directly observed therapy by community treatment supporters.
He said under the Drug Resistant TB patients there were 107. “Among these patients, 13 are being admitted in hospital (TB ward in Nhlangano) and 94 are treated at home under the community Direct Observation and Video Observed Therapy,” reads part of his answers.
The PM was also asked why the TB Centre Hospital in Moneni, Manzini was closed.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, there was an urgent need to repurpose the hospital to address the emerging pandemic-related clinical needs. Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, the hospital now caters for non-communicable diseases, primarily cancer, which is an increasing health concern in Eswatini. The TB hospital was initially built in response to a high TB incidence,” answered the PM.
His Excellency then confirmed that the NGO (Medicines Sans Frontiers) that stepped in to treat TB was still operational in the country.
“Through Government efforts and support from development partners, including Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), the country has achieved a steady decline of TB cases over the years. Against this background, MSF and the Ministry of Health National TB program engaged on a planned transition as MSF shifted their strategic focus of support to Government from TB to Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) programs.
“Among other reasons, this was in response to the country’s need to address maternal mortality and teenage pregnancy, among other SRH related health needs. SRH is a priority for
the Ministry of Health in Eswatini, hence the support from MSF in this area is greatly appreciated,” he said.
Regarding our TB response, we continue to have other partners that are supporting our efforts, such as Global Fund, PEPFAR, the UN family, to name a few. The country remains committed to the global goal of Ending TB by 2035,” said the PM in his responses.
