The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) joined the Ministry of Health (MoH) and other partner organisations in commemorating World Tuberculosis (TB) Day at Muchinga Grounds in Lusaka.

The event, themed ‘Yes! We Can End TB: Led by Zambia, Powered by the Community,’ was officiated by the Minister of Health, Dr Alex Katakwe, and attended by various stakeholders, including representatives from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the US Government, government departments, civil society organisations, and other corporating partners.

Dr Katakwe regretted that each year in Zambia, between 5,000 and 8,000 people die from TB.

“These are lives lost from a disease that is both preventable and curable, ” he added, emphasising that what makes TB deaths tragic is the fact that TB screening and treatment services are readily available free of charge in all government health facilities.

And CIDRZ’s Chief Scientific Officer and Head of the CIDRZ Lung Health and Other Respiratory Diseases Department, Dr Monde Muyoyeta, stated that CIDRZ continues to partner with the MoH by supporting various aspects of the fight against TB.

“Over the years, CIDRZ has collaborated with the Ministry of Health to develop guidelines and contributed to strategic planning on TB. We have also undertaken other works addressing TB in incarcerated populations with support from various partners, including the United States Government and the Stop TB Partnership,” she said.

World TB Day is observed globally to raise awareness about the devastating health, social, and economic impacts of TB and to intensify efforts to eliminate the global TB epidemic.

It marks the day in 1882 when Dr Robert Koch announced his groundbreaking discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB.