Zimbabwe: TB Survivors Network – Game Changer in National Response

Tuberculosis remains one of the leading killer diseases in Zimbabwe and many other African countries.

In 2019, there were an estimated 2,5 million TB cases in the African region, accounting for 25 percent of the global burden. More than 500 000 African lives are lost to this disease every year.

In Zimbabwe, it is estimated that 33 000 people fall ill of TB every year.

While the country has made significant gains in reducing the number of people who have developed TB since 2015, there is more that can still be done.

TB treatment and care is free in Zimbabwe, but statistics show that more than 80 percent of those in need of TB services face high costs while accessing them.

To address some of these gaps and challenges effectively and efficiently, the Government contends that active participation and involvement of all sectors that contribute to health is needed.

This is where TB survivors come on board.

As the people who contacted, got treated and survived Tuberculosis, survivors are an integral part of the struggle and they are a living testimony and they are a useful constituency if the country is to seriously navigate the bumpy road of ending TB.

TB survivors are working towards reaching all communities to ensure that everyone can have access to TB services.

Currently the Network of TB Survivors has structures in all the country’s 10 provinces from support groups to ward, district, province up to national level.

Each province has a coordinator who feeds the data to the national body. Some of the members have been hired by other organisations to offer various  TB services like the National TB Stigma Assessment Research which was conducted by Jointed Hands Welfare Organisation in October 2024. Four of the TB Survivors were research assistants in the study.

Currently the network has over 4 000 members across the country who are dedicated to help current TB patients to overcome the disease and barriers associated with it.

Through collaborations with partners such as the Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI), Zimbabwe Technical Assistance, Training & Education Centre (Zim-TTech) Stop TB Partnership and University of Zimbabwe Clinical Trials Research Centre (UZ-CTRC), the network has managed to make meaningful involvement of communities in TB response a priority.

Working with the BRTI, the Exact 3 active case finding study was initiated and it was noted that most TB cases were missed in communities as some of the participants tested positive for TB even without symptoms.

The study targets people without TB symptoms and is done outside the health facilities, in shopping centres or communities.

With the help of Government, the network has managed to establish TB Survivors support groups across the country. These support groups are playing a critical role especially in communities where they continue educating and giving awareness on the effects of TB.

Peer to peer support often plays a critical role in TB management and these TB Survivors support groups have made a significant impact in preventing Tuberculosis.

The formation of these groups was long overdue as it has lifted a burden on health facilities who were bearing the brunt of staff shortages.

Despite being removed from the top 30 countries with a TB burden, Zimbabwe remains one of the 30 countries with burdens of TB/HIV core infection and drug resistant TB globally.

With nearly 10 million people falling ill with TB worldwide each year, Government through its partners like the Zimbabwe National Network of TB Survivors has been rolling out various strategies to minimise new TB cases.

According to the WHO, about 1,5 million people die of TB each year and this is a huge number considering that TB is curable and preventable, thus the Network of TB Survivors has taken the lead in TB prevention in communities.

This is being done through the deployment of Community TB Advocates at various clinics across the country. These dedicated cadres, who are survivors of TB, work voluntarily screening for TB at the clinics, tracking defaulters, tracing contacts and giving health talks.

The programme has brought about a significant and positive change in TB management at the health facilities.

With support from stakeholders, TB survivors can be a game-changer in response, hence there is need for Government to continue working closely with them as they are directly rooted in communities and are capable of reaching hard to reach areas.

In 2020 alone, at least 12 percent of the notified TB cases were referred by the community highlighting the importance of working with them.

Every person is at risk of contracting TB as long you are still breathing.

TB remains the number one killer opportunistic infection among people living with HIV (PLHiV) and there is need for a collaboration of various stakeholders if the war against this disease is to be won.

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According to WHO, the implementation of community-based TB services is an integral part of the health systems and provides an opportunity to increase health service coverage and find the missing people with TB.

This ensures that care is delivered in a safe, effective, efficient, equitable, and people centred way.

The Zimbabwe National Network of TB Survivors (ZNNTBS), which is an umbrella body representing people who survived Tuberculosis, continue to be the voice of the infected and affected communities in Zimbabwe.

Working under the Stop TB Partnership banner, the network is involved in various prevention programmes complimenting Government efforts of ending the disease as a public health threat by 2030.

The network has, on Government invitations, participated in various national programmes like the Multi-Sectoral Accountability Framework for Tuberculosis, from its launch up to validation in 2024 as well as the TB in Mining and Community Rights and Gender Assessment up to its validation.

With the Government already taking a lead in engaging the communities on TB, it is imperative that all partners, survivors included, come on board and help to improve Zimbabwe’s outcomes and end TB by 2030.

Stanley Sibanda is the chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Network of TB

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