Africa-Press – Tanzania. AMREF Health Africa Tanzania has expressed commitment to continue cooperating with the government in the fight against tuberculosis (TB) and provision of reproduction health services.
Head of programmes, Amref Health Africa Tanzania, Dr Aisa Muya pledged for continued support through its USAID funded Afya Shirikishi project.
The project is aimed at increasing access to and improving TB services and reproductive health services at the community level.
Speaking during the launch of ‘Tanzania Stop TB Partnership’ programme, Dr Muya said they aim at ending the diseases in the country.
She applauded the government for its efforts aimed improving provision of health services in the country as well as dealing with both communicable and non-communicable diseases.
Speaking about the launch of the programme, Dr Muya said “Tuberculosis is one of the world’s top infectious killer diseases today, it is airborne and can affect any one of us, and therefore today’s launch is a milestone”.
The event was also attended by Speaker of the National Assembly, Job Ndugai, who was a chief guest.
Speaker Ndugai said that the efforts of various stakeholders who work with the government were crucial because Tanzania is among 30 countries with high TB burden.
According to the speaker, global statistics indicate that 70 TB related deaths occur daily, translating to three deaths every hour.
“This coordination and partnership will contribute to addressing a problem whereby an estimated number of 41 people with TB are undiagnosed and untreated each year” said Ndugai.
He said collaboration between the Stop TB chapter and Parliamentary TB caucus will not only increase political will, but also enhance more allocation of domestic resources for TB in Tanzania.
Stop TB Tanzania board chairperson, Dr Peter Bujari noted that the fight against TB is a battle that must involve everyone, especially for now when infectious diseases such as TB and Covid-19 are still prevalent.
“It is therefore imperative that all key partners come together to plan, assess comparative advantage of each partners to build national movement that will ensure that all those at risk of TB are tested and those infected are put on treatment,” said the board chair.
AMREF Health Africa Tanzania through the USAID Afya Shirikishi project aims to increase access to and improve TB services and reproductive health services at the community level.
Project areas include in Dar es Salaam, Geita, Katavi, Kigoma, Mwanza, Pwani, Rukwa, and Songwe.
The organisation works in collaboration with ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Zanzibar ministry of Health and President’s Office Regions Authority and Local Government, and Ministry of Education (MOEST).
