Chief hails TB intervention

Village head Chimbalanga in Traditional Authority (T/A) Bvumbwe in Thyolo District has hailed the Community Tuberculosis (TB) Intervention Programme for reducing the disease-related deaths in his area.

Speaking on Tuesday during the joint supervision tour conducted by World Vision, Christian Aid and Development Aid from People to People (Dapp), he said the intervention has increased awareness among people in his community through trained volunteers.

Said Chimbalanga: “My area remains one of the hotspots for tuberculosis and there is need for continued screening and referrals for those diagnosed positive. However, through the intervention we have for long, not recorded TB-related deaths and we owe it to the professional support from the community volunteers who are members of my community.”

However, he requested for inclusion of nutrition initiative for TB patients.

The chief said most patients are unable to consistently adhere to treatment because of hunger  .

Gladesi Smart, a small-scale farmer from the same village, said she was diagnosed with TB in December 2022.

She said: “I am now back to my feet after six months of treatment. We depend on strawberry sales and when I was sick, the business suffered and survival became difficult for the family. I thank one of the volunteers who encouraged me to go for TB test when I was feeling the signs and  symptoms of the disease.”

The project is being implemented by Dapp with funding from Global Fund (GF) and coordination from World Vision and Christian Aid in the 10 districts of Blantyre, Thyolo, Zomba, Phalombe, Chiradzulu, Mwanza, Neno, Nsanje, Chikwawa, Mulanje .

Project leader Vanessa Phiri said they trained 6 215 community volunteers and identified 1 685 TB cases.