By Cedric Nkungula
First Lady Madam Monica Chakwera says Malawi is making a significant progress to eliminate cases of Tuberculosis (TB) in the country.
Madam Chakwera made the remarks at the End Tuberculosis Innovation Summit in New York, United States of America.
Madam Monica Chakwera is Malawi’s TB champion. She was crowned the new role few weeks ago.
As TB champion, the first lady is expected to lead the country’s efforts in mobilizing financial resources towards TB; fighting stigma and discrimination towards TB affected populations; advocating for better nutrition for TB patients; advocating for multi – sectoral participation as well as promoting community engagement in the fight against TB.
In her remarks, Madam Chakwera explained that the number of TB cases have been reduced from 197 per 100,000 people in 2015 to 125 per 100,000 people in 2022.
She expressed concern over women and girls in rural areas who walk long distances to access quality treatment hence encouraged door to door treatment to ensure that patients are diagnosed early.
“Strategies such as mobile diagnostics, community sputum collection, door to door screening are enablers to end TB by 2030,” she said.
She added that challenges such as lack of resources and poor service delivery require collective efforts to mobilize and adequately implement strategies that will help end TB.
She therefore, appealed for more support from various stakeholders and international institutions saying it will help to boost the programme and service delivery for Malawi to achieve TB elimination.
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