Mozambique struggles to curb TB, seeks U.N. help
Pastor Dale Morgan
Mozambique struggles to curb TB, seeks U.N. help*
07 Apr 2007 12:16:26 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Charles Mangwiro
MAPUTO, April 7 (Reuters) - Mozambique will seek United Nations funding
to fight a sharp rise in the lung disease tuberculosis, which has been
overshadowed by HIV/AIDS, its health minister said on Saturday.
Health Minister Ivo Paulo Garrido told Reuters almost half of
Mozambique's 18 million people were infected with tuberculosis (TB) --
compounding the health crisis posed by HIV/AIDS.
"It is extremely serious not only because of a very high prevalence of
TB, but also because of the growing interaction between TB and
HIV/AIDS," he said.
"Despite commendable efforts by the government to control it (TB),
impact on incidence has not been significant and the epidemic has now
reached a serious stage and, for the first time, we will need $22
million from the (U.N.) Global Fund to spend in three years," he said.
The minister said the money would be used for treatment and
identification of TB patients, since many Mozambicans who suffer from it
live far from health centres or were unaware that they had the disease.
HIV/AIDS infects 1.6 million Mozambicans, with 500 new infections every day.
Garrido said the HIV epidemic has fuelled the rise in TB incidence not
only in Mozambique, but across Africa, so that the number of TB cases
occurring each year has trebled since 1990.
Garrido said the continent would require $2.9 billion in new funding
during 2006/2007 and urged African countries to commit more human and
financial resources on anti-TB and HIV efforts.