TB

Tuberculosis was the leading underlying natural cause of death in 2015, accounting for 7.2% of deaths. It was followed by diabetes which accounted for 5.4% of the deaths.

"Although tuberculosis has maintained its position as the number one leading underlying natural cause of death, the proportions over time have been declining, whilst proportions for diabetes mellitus, hypertensive diseases, other viral diseases and chronic lower respiratory diseases have been increasing," it said.

TB/HIV Care Association, a non-governmental organisation working against the spread of TB and HIV, is calling for the decriminalisation of drug abusers.
The organisation’s Shaun Shelly, states that people who use drugs frequently suffer from human rights abuses at public spaces.

According to Shelly, the organisation recorded about 250 incidents of human rights violations in three cities throughout the country in a period of three months.

The University of Cape Town's (UCT) head of Pulmonology division, Professor Keertan Dheda, says he is less optimistic about the cocktail of new drug resistance tuberculosis (TB).

The PaMZ three-drug combo from the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development is said to cure the disease more quickly than current regimens.

The PaMZ regimen shows promise to be effective in all (100 percent) of drug-sensitive patients and about 30 percent of patients with MDR-TB

Zambia’s deputy minister of health, Chitalu Chilufya, states that the country is conducting a national tuberculosis (TB) prevalence survey to present evidence that will ensure effective TB programming in future.

Speaking at a research dissemination meeting organised by the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ), Chilufya asserted that programme-based research will form a greater part of the national TB control programme.

Chilufya is of the view that the fight against TB called for collaborative efforts between government and partners.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) predicts that by 2017 the Tuberculosis (TB) rate may rise in Angola.

Fight Against Tuberculosis Programme coordinator, Celestino Teixeira, stresses that the country has done everything to implement the WHO strategies on disease.

Teixeira further states that in 2013, Angola reported a total of 60 807 cases of tuberculosis of all forms, observing an increase of 11 percent over the previous year.