Health and Rights Education Programme (HREP) has expressed concerns over lack of adequate funding towards the fight against tuberculosis (TB), a situation that is putting millions of lives at risk
The concerns were expressed in a statement on Monday as the country joined the rest of the world in observing the World TB Day commemorated under the theme ‘Yes, We Can End TB-Commit, Invest, Deliver’.
Reads the statement: “A staggering 98 percent of Malawi’s TB funding comes from external sources, with only two percent contributed domestically, and alarmingly, 35 percent of the country’s projected TB budget remains unfunded.
“The recent United States [US] funding cuts and stop-work orders threaten the very foundation of TB programmes, endangering lives and reversing hard-won progress.
“With half of all international TB funding coming from the US, including a third of the Global Fund’s contributions, Malawi stands on the brink of a funding catastrophe”.
The statement said that despite the Global Fund’s interventions, the reality remains dire and without urgent financial commitments; hence, TB outcomes are anticipated to worsen, leading to diagnostic delays, treatment interruptions, increased prevalence and the devastating spread of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB).
“The economic toll is crushing: treating drug-sensitive TB costs $783 (K1.37 million) per patient, while DR-TB treatment soars to $4 877 (K8.53 million)—an unbearable financial strain on an already fragile health system. This funding crisis is not just about numbers; it is about lives hanging in the balance,” further reads the statement.
Minister of Health Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda on Monday said Malawi has made strides in the fight against TB, further appealing for concerted efforts in ending the disease by 2030.
A March 14 2025 World Health Organisation report states that globally 1.25 million people died from TB in 2023, making it the likely leading cause of death from a single infectious agent, surpassing Covid-19
