The Zimbabwean Parliamentarian Portfolio Committee on Health has agreed to put tuberculosis (TB) on the political agenda. This commitment was made at a parliamentarian workshop supported by Challenge TB, which took place in Kadoma on 31 July–1 August 2015. Twenty-five members of the committee attended.
In her opening remarks, Committee chair Dr Ruth Labode highlighted that the meeting was a huge milestone for her committee, which had been oblivious of the country’s TB burden due to lack of information. This had resulted in the members of parliament (MPs) failing to lobby for support for the fight against TB.
Representatives of The Ministry of Health and Child Care made presentations, including an overview of the national TB programme, drug-resistant TB, TB-HIV, laboratory services, TB financing and community TB care. Dr Christopher Zishiri, Country Director of The Union Zimbabwe Office, informed the participants about the Challenge TB project’s support for the national programme.
Dr Patrick Hazangwe, who represented the World Health Organization at the event, challenged the MPs to join The Global TB Caucus, an international network of parliamentarians committed to the fight against TB. By the end of the workshop, 14 MPs had signed the Barcelona Declaration, which has been signed by more than 500 parliamentarians from 81 countries as a statement of the worldwide political commitment to end the TB epidemic.
It was agreed at the workshop that there was need to lobby for an increase in domestic funding for the TB programme through the creation of a parliamentarian taskforce to champion TB and to involve the legislators in the fight against TB. The MPs also pledged to place TB on the parliament’s agenda during their sessions and to get all members to sign the Barcelona Declaration and join in the fight.
The workshop concluded with a site visit to Kadoma General Hospital where the parliamentarians had an opportunity to see the challenges the health delivery system faces and the areas that require strengthening for the country to attain the global TB targets.