Second phase of TB program that integrates HIV treatment begins in Harare, Zimbabwe

The second phase of the Integrated Health Care program to control tuberculosis has been implemented in Zimbabwe's capital of Harare, the Herald reports.

The program aims to integrate TB care with HIV/AIDS treatment, program coordinator Dorothy Nyoni said last week at an event aimed at educating people about the program.

According to Nyoni, the program will provide antiretroviral drugs to 170 people with HIV/TB coinfection who no longer are eligible to receive treatment from clinics. The program also will administer no-cost CD4+ T cell counts to people with HIV/TB coinfection. In addition, the program received a car to travel to Harare's Mabvuku and Tafara communities to provide TB treatment services to residents who otherwise would need to travel for treatment, Nyoni said. Harare TB Program Manager Clemence Duri praised the program but said the Mabvuku district has a shortage of TB nurses and is among the areas most affected by TB in Harare.

The program was coordinated by the Harare City Health Department and the International Union Against TB and Lung Disease and received funding from the European Union, the Herald reports (Herald, 9/8).