ESWATINI TB TREATMENT SUCCESS RATE AT 84%

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BY MBONO MDLULI

MBABANE – Eswatini seems to be on the right track, as far as fighting the spread of Tuberculosis (TB) within the country is concerned.

This is because the treatment success rate of this disease is now at 84 percent, rising from 79 percent last year. This was said by Minister of Health Mduduzi Matsebula today (Friday, October 25, 2024) at Hilton Garden Inn, Mbabane. This was during the official opening of the 2024 Sub-Saharan SEQNET Consortium Meeting.

In 2024, this meeting is held in Eswatini and the meeting is an initiative between countries in the region and globally, in the response to TB. Matsebula started by telling the attendants from different countries that it was indeed exciting to see the gathering of scientific minds to deliberate on how to strengthen collective response to TB. He thanked them for coming to Eswatini this year.

Matsebula further mentioned that globally, the TB epidemic still remained one of the leading cause of death from an infectious disease, despite being a curable disease. Eswatini, like other sub-Saharan member states, is affected by a high burden of TB, according to the minister.

However, he noted that there were many efforts the country had done to fight this disease. “The TB incidence has dropped from 1 590 per 100 000 (1 590/100 000) in 2012 to 325 per 100 000 (325/100 000) in 2022. The treatment success rate was 79 percent in 2023 and now it is 84 percent. The TB/HIV confection rate has dropped from 82 percent to 65 percent in the last 11 years,” Matsebula said.

Matsebula said against this backdrop, the country remained committed to sustain the gains made so far and to further pursue the goal of ending TB as a public health threat. In this regard, Matsebula said the country had developed a new TB National strategic plan 2023 – 2028. “This is built on the bedrock and principle of the global End TB Strategy that seeks to end TB by 3035,” he said.

Matsebula mentioned that the strides made by Eswatini in fighting TB were done with the help of international partners such as the Government of Germany. He further told the participants of the meeting that Eswatini was still committed in ending TB by 2035.

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