THE Stop TB Partnership Zimbabwe, a country level initiative meant to scale up Tuberculosis (TB) case finding and treatment in various communities which include high TB burden settings, has launched a national social media campaign that will see TB champions, media and other key stakeholders raising awareness around the TB subject using various digital media platforms and media products.
By Michael Gwarisa in Kadoma
The campaign will result in the production of video TB Information, Education and Communication (IEC) material for distribution through celebrity platforms as well as other social media platforms. The campaign is being spearheaded by the Stop TB Partnership Zimbabwe in partnership with the Kunda Nqob’ iTB (KNTB).
Some of TB champions who were present include TB survivors, young people and prominent Radio personalities such as Linda Muriro from Star FM, Jabulani Ncube from Radio Zimbabwe, Thabani Gambiza Radio Zimbabwe, Works Gezani of Hevoi FM, Charles Mushinga, a Zimpapers Editor, renowned health Journalists Catharine Murombedzi, poet and musician Albert Nyathi, musician Dereck Mpofu, footballer Devon Chafa and Cricketer Marry-Anne Musonda among others.
Speaking at the Social Media campaign launch, Stop TB Partnership Zimbabwe Chairperson, Mr Ronald Rungoyi said the combination of celebrities, private sector, media and TB Survivors in raising awareness on TB and in the elimination of stigma and discrimination creates a synergy towards TB elimination
Let me start by saying media and TB champions play a huge role in TB awareness and pushing for strategies for TB. Therefore, our coming together enables us to bring the health professionals, the advocates and media as a mouthpiece under one roof to collaborate, share ideas as well as strategize and map a way forward.
“We have to work together in creating messages that will increase knowledge around the cause of TB, models of transmission, symptoms and treatment measures and issues around stigma and discrimination. We also have to talk about nutrition which is also a very critical component in TB management. Lastly we also need to look at personal hygiene and general welfare of the patients in relation to COVID-19,” said Mr Rungoyi.
He added that celebrities and media have been used for decades to influence public opinion and this unique approach can be leveraged upon to influence perception and behaviour hence eliminating stigma and discrimination associated with TB. He also said TB survivors were better placed to share experiences with TB while providing treatment support and raising awareness about the disease.
The stop TB partnership is a global movement meant to push TB up the political agenda and was established in 2001 to eliminate tuberculosis as a public health problem. The secretariat is based in Geneva, Switzerland and, since 2015, has been administered by UNOPS. In Zimbabwe the Stop TB partnership program is being implemented by Jointed Hands Welfare organisation (JHWO) a local Non-Governmental Organisation spearheading TB interventions in various communities including prisons, schools and other vulnerable communities.
Meanwhile, Dr Charles Sandy, the National TB Programme Manager in the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) said the involvement of TB champions and media in delivering simplified TB messages will help address the stigma and misinformation around TB which is still a high burden to the country and has been worsened by COVID-19.
“Zimbabwe is currently suffering from TB in its three main forms and these are Drug Sensitive TB which responds to normal treatment, Drug Resistant TB which responds to the second line treatment and TB/HIV Co-infection where somebody with TB is also suffering from HIV infection. The World Health Organization (WHO) categorises countries according to their burden and they are about 30 countries in each of the three categories that I mentioned which contribute to at least 80% of the Global TB burden.
“As a country, we have been in all the tree categories for many years, its just this year that WHO felt that our incidence has come down which led to us exiting from the group of high burden drug resistant TB. We remain watchful as it is also easy to get back again into the high burden group if things don’t go accordingly,” said Dr Sandy.
He added that Zimbabwe has adopted some ambitious targets to reduce TB incidence and mortality and this can only be achieved through proper messaging and plugging existing information gaps.
“By 2025 we are expecting our incidence to be 80% of what is was in 2015. For mortality, we want to drop by 80% from what it was in 2015. All these that we are trying to do is actually moulded in alignment what WHO recommends for all countries. The WHO has a got a global TB strategy which wants to see a world free of TB with Zero TB Deaths, Zero TB disease and Zero TB suffering and this is going to be achieved through implementation of strategies and policies aligned to three pillars.
“There is a pillar for integrated patient centered TB care and prevention, there is a pillar on formulation of bold policies and supporting systems, there is a pillar on intensifying research and innovation. All those pillars will depend on government’s stewardship and accountability, monitoring and evaluation and a strong coalition with Civil Society Organization (CS0s).”
