Bulawayo recording an increase in TB deaths
Bulawayo recorded a 40 percent increase in TB deaths in the month of May with reports showing that Emakhandeni district had the highest number of new cases recorded during the same month.
According to recent council minutes, there were 107 TB notifications recorded during the month of May.
The City of Bulawayo currently has the highest TB death rate of 16 percent, which is higher than the nationally set target of less than 5 percent, due to a myriad of risk factors chief among them being the high TB/HIV co-infection, delayed presentation at health facilities and rampart overcrowding in some of the city’s settlements.
In Bulawayo, the 2021 notification rate (174/100 000 population) was higher than the expected target of 167/100 000 population. The notification rate has since declined from 258/100 000 population in 2016 to 174/100 000 population in 2021. Lost to follow has remained at 2 percent (less than the National target of less than 5 percent since 2016.
“There was a marked increase of 27 percent in the TB notifications in May. Emakhandeni District had the highest number of notifications. TB deaths increased significantly by 40 percent,” read the council minutes.
The high number of cases drove council to conduct a ten-day long TuberCulosis (TB) screening as part of its efforts to address the prevalence of the killer disease in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Child Care.
The targeted screening was from 10 to 14 July 2022 where a mobile clinic went around high-risk areas around the city to offer free screening and treatment services to residents.
Gugomhle Ntini from Cowdray Park, one of the high risk suburbs, said the mobile screening program helped many residents access healthcare services easier as they do not have nearby facilities.
“There is a lot of overcrowding in Cowdray Park which makes us more vulnerable to TB and other diseases. However we do not have health facilities at the moment and it was difficult for us to go for screening, hence the prevalence and high TB mortality rates in our area,” said Ntini.
“We applaud the council and the Ministry for reaching out to us because we need such projects to weed out poor health seeking behaviors. We hope that the council will consider phase two before the year ends so that those who missed out during these 10 days may benefit.” said Ntini.
The screening targeted health care workers, people with HIV, diabetic patients, miners and ex-miners, ex-prisoners, prisoners, prison workers, malnourished children, those who have lived with or worked with someone who has TB, elderly people above 65 years, people living in congregate settings and those with symptoms such as night sweats, loss of weight, cough of more than a week or cough of any duration.