The Malawi government has disclosed plans to scale-up implementation of activities to fight Tuberculosis in the country.
The National Tuberculosis Control Program (NTP) of Malawi has initiated implementation of the Southern Africa Tuberculosis and Health Systems Support (SATBHSS) project.
The project among other things will help in procurement of modern equipment and refurbishment of existing laboratories to improve detection and treatment of TB, conducting project awareness and sensitization campaigns and creating miners and ex-miners groups in the target communities to improve disease diagnosis and surveillance.
The Malawi component of the project was declared effective by the World Bank (WB) on 01 December 2016.
The activities of the project are aimed at improving coverage and quality of TB and occupational lung disease services.
The initiative will be rolled out in the nine districts of Balaka, Blantyre, Kasungu, Karonga, Lilongwe, Mzimba North, Mzimba South, Nsanje and Rumphi in an effort to fight the scourge of TB.
The initiative is also being rolled out in Lesotho, Mozambique and Zambia to improve regional capacity for effective management of TB across borders.
The implementing countries have to move together in order to go further in the implementation of this project and consolidate the gains for shared success in fighting the scourge of TB
Malawi has since received USD17 million out of the total USD122 million dedicated to the project.
The implementation of the five-year project is coordinated by the Ministry of Health and has taken a multi- sectoral approach which includes the Ministry of Labour, Youth and Sports, and the Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining.
