Tuberculosis remains a public health threat and a leading cause of death in Mozambique, where the fight against the TB epidemic is considerably hampered by health sector challenges and lack of access to services.TB incidence rates have not improved in recent years, and the TB epidemic is exacerbated by the generalised HIV epidemic.
The Manhiça Health Research Center (CISM) in Maputo province, southern Mozambique, plans to start testing a new tuberculosis vaccine, using one of the latest technologies developed by Biotech, the German biotech company. Tuberculosis is a major cause of morbidity and one of the top ten causes of death in Mozambique, with 361 deaths out of every 100,000 in 2022, according to World Bank data. Among the 30 countries most affected by tuberculosis, Mozambique ranks 17th, and among those most affected by multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), Mozambique ranks first. In terms of drug resistance (MDR-TB), Mozambique ranks 16th.
In terms of the outcome of the project looking at what the overall targets are, there have been very significant improvements. We can say that we have not just improved the reporting of treatments but also increased the treatment coverage of our patients.
Dr Benedita José, National director of the tuberculosis program
The current burden of tuberculosis is estimated at 115,000 cases, in this country of 32 million inhabitants if tuberculosis incidence and mortality are taken into account. Considerable progress has been made in increasing TB case notification from 61,559 diagnosed and notified cases in 2015 to 96,203 cases in 2020, an increase of 56%.
In Mozambique in other research settings we have been setting many campaigns, awareness campaigns to teach the population what is TB? What is the transmission, How is the treatment? However the stigma is still there and is a complex problem. Maybe we have to work on policies to protect the rights of people living with TB.
Auriana Chambal, ASM Young Ambassador to Mozambique
Although case notification has increased in recent years, the percentage of bacteriologically confirmed cases has regressed by 35% compared to 2015, when it was 50%. Persistent challenges in tackling the burden of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) also persist, with around 3,700 cases of untreated DR-TB and a cure rate for drug-resistant TB of just 66%.