Mozambique: 48,000 more cases of tuberculosis in six months

Mozambique recorded 48,000 cases of tuberculosis in the first half of this year, health authorities announced Wednesday, citing a lack of funding as one of the causes of the increase in cases of the disease in the country.

“Mozambique continues to face a high burden of this disease, often associated with HIV, seriously affecting, especially, the most vulnerable populations,” said the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health (Misau), Ivan Manhiça, in Maputo.

The representative, who was speaking during the joint event of the 4th Symposium on Global Health and the 1st Forum of the Initiative against Tuberculosis, argued that the need to reduce the 48,000 cases of the disease in the country, during this period, starts with the involvement of "young scientists, local leaders and all sectors of health and education", among others.

On that occasion, Benedita José, head of the National Tuberculosis Control Program, estimated that the disease affects around 361 people per 100,000 inhabitants in Mozambique : “with real estimates, we expect to find around 121,000 cases of tuberculosis per year.”

For the Government, the cut in international funding is among the causes of the increase in cases in some provinces .

"Some health areas in some provinces are beginning to see an increase in the number of cases, following the pattern seen before the USAID funding was suspended (...). We've seen a halt in the implementation of community-level activities, which was one of the components that contributed most to tuberculosis cases in health facilities," she concluded.

The US government announced on July 1 the definitive closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), founded in 1961 to provide international humanitarian support, with significant funding for health in Mozambique.

On June 30, Mozambican health authorities received two million doses of the tuberculosis vaccine (BCG), enough for six months, after a break period, for administration to babies up to 23 months old.

Mozambique recorded more than 116,000 cases of tuberculosis in 2023, compared to 119,000 in 2022, with the disease continuing to be “a major public health challenge,” according to previous information from the Ministry of Health.

According to the People to People Development Aid Association (ADPP), an international non-governmental organization, more than 108,000 people have received tuberculosis treatment since 2019 in 50 districts in the provinces of Zambézia, Sofala, Tete and Nampula, in northern and central Mozambique.

According to the NGO, between 2019 and 2024, of the total 108,242 cases reported and treated in the country, 10,547 were children.