The World Bank is supporting the Regional TB in mining Project (part of the Africa Regional Communicable Disease Control and Preparedness Program), which aims at controlling and or eliminating priority communicable diseases on the continent. Malawi is one of the four participating countries in the project. The overarching goal of the project is to increase utilization of key TB control and occupational lung diseases services in Malawi and strengthen the sub-region’s capacity to address such conditions.
The project is important for the region as Southern Africa contributes significantly to the global burden of TB. A highly preventable and curable disease, the communicable disease is claiming a lot of lives. Southern Africa also has some of the highest TB/HIV co-infection rates in the world, which is tricky to treat; and there is an increasing threat of the Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) to the sub-region’s health and development gains. In addition the region faces the challenges of a disease burden tied to movement within and across borders among miners. Drivers of TB in mining among others include poor accommodation facilities, poor nutrition, poor ventilation and dust in the mines.
Find the documents and the official letter of disclosure from the Principal Secretary of Health in the Press Releases section in the downloads link.