THE government has launched a programme to identify tuberculosis (TB) patients in 76 districts in nine regions.

Jenister Mhagama, the Health minister, said at the launch of the programme here yesterday that it is part of efforts to eradicate the disease countrywide by 2030.

The government has allocated 185 new testing equipment costing 7bn/- altogether for detection of pathogens in laboratory samples, she said, noting that current estimates put annual new cases at 

122,000 thus coming to 183 patients per 100,000 people.

By late 2023 a total of 93,250 patients were identified and treated, equivalent to 76 percent of the overall total of 122,000 patients, on the basis of estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), she explained.

The WHO Global Tuberculosis (TB) Report 2024 indicates that country data show an improvement on the two TB burden indicators of TB incidence rate and TB deaths, she stated.

The TB incidence rate has been reduced by up to 40 percent in the past decade, from 306 in 2015 to 183 in 2023, while the number of deaths due to TB whether HIV-positive or negative dropped by 68 percent, from 58,000 in 2015 to 18,400 deaths in 2023, the report noted.

Tanzania is thus among three countries with high TB burdens on track to reach the ‘end TB’ milestone by reducing the incidence rate by 50 percent in 2025. It also features among 13 countries in reducing the number of TB deaths by 75 percent during the period, she specified.

She said that Tanzania is doing well in the fight against TB, currently ranked sixth among high burden countries that are doing well, citing efforts to do better since the country is still among 30 countries globally with the highest TB prevalence.

The 30 countries together account for 87 percent of all TB patients in the world, she said, expressing satisfaction at the great impetus to combat the disease as the government collaborates with other stakeholders in increasing efforts to contain TB spread.

“Today we are launching 75 modern GeneXpert machines used at the hospital level, and 110 Truenat machines which have been designed to facilitate work up at the dispensary level,.” she stated.

Distributing the new equipment is expected to strengthen the network of services for examining and detecting TB pathogens through genetic testing of samples.

There will now be a total of 569 machines for such tests, also testing drug resistance, moving from 384 machines in 2023 thus registering a 48 percent increase, the minister noted.

Janeth Mayanja, the Chamwino district commissioner standing in for the regional commissioner, hailed government efforts to improve health services countrywide.

The machines provided will help in early diagnosis of TB patients, thus identifying more people who suffer from the disease and accessing treatment early, she said.

Dr. Ahmad Makuwani, rhe Health acting permanent secretary, said that despite the persistent TB threat, Tanzania has made great strideso in fighting the disease, placed among six high burden countries that are doing well.

Great efforts are now being directed at identifying new patients as the government invests in medical technology, especially in medical equipment. The idea is to ‘leave no one behind’ in the TB eradication drive, by 2030.