Equipment shortage threatens TB fight in Chiradzulu

The fight against Tuberculosis (TB) in Chiradzulu District is being hampered by shortage of
essential equipment like X-ray machines an d test kits.

The district has been on the right track in the fight against TB but recently its main referral
facility, Chiradzulu District Hospital has not been offering X-ray services, a crucial aspect in
TB case management as the machine has needs some repairs.

Patients are now being sent to Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre for X-ray
services and that has been a huge challenge to many as they have to organise own transport
and in some instances even accommodation in Blantyre.

According to Chiradzulu District TB Officer Patrick Chikuni , the hospital has not been
supplied with Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) test kits to carry out TB diagnostics since April
2024.

Chikuni said: “Each and every month, we are supposed to conduct supervisions and follow-
up in various peripheral facilities. But due to some issues, we are facing a challenge to
conduct such supervisions.
“When it comes to TB case diagnosis, as you know, in Chiradzulu almost 30 to 40 percent of

TB cases were registered every quarter through LAM kit tests. And since we have run out of
them, as of now, our TB case notification has gone down.”

Ministry of Health Spokesperson Adrian Chikumbe said they are aware of the X-ray problem
at Chiradzulu, Machinga and Mwanza district hospitals and they have hired a technical
contractor to do the necessary repairs.

Chikumbe explained that they have some mobile x-ray machine which will soon be deployed
into different areas across the country, including those without machines to support in the
diagnosis of different conditions.

“This is a temporary solution as we try to fix the bigger machines,” He said.

Though the hospital face a number of challenges, According to the 2024 first quarter report,
that covered January to March, it has shown that the Chiradzulu district performed well in a
number of key thematic areas including TB treatment outcome.

According to Chikuni, about 97 cases were registered which had a 93 percent treatment
success rate, surpassing the target of 90%. The hospital also witnessed a reduction in TB
death rate of all TB cases that were registered in the first quarter.

He said: “There were 137 TB cases that were registered during the first quarter of 2023,
while eight patients died representing 5.8%, just above the 5 percent national target and
the figure was lower than figures from previous quarters which experienced higher
percentages of more than 11%.”