Media encouraged to take its place in the fight against TB

Rumbidzayi Zinyuke in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

The East, Central and Southern African Health Community (ECSA-HC) has convened a two-day training for journalists based in the SADC region as part of efforts to increase their participation in reporting on Tuberculosis (TB) related issues, including TB in the mining sector, to enhance awareness in communities.

The training seeks to promote a multi-stakeholder approach to the achievement of the World Health Assembly strategy to end TB by 2035 in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

TB remains one of the world’s greatest killers, although most cases still go unidentified. According to statistics, an estimated 10 million people fell ill with TB worldwide in 2020 but only 5,8 million were detected and notified. Of these cases, 25 percent were in Africa.

In Southern Africa, one-third of TB infections are linked to mining activities.

According to the 2012 TB in Mining Sector in Southern Africa (TIMS) Epidemiological study, between 3 percent and 7 percent of miners are estimated to become ill with TB each year.