MUTARE: - The Manicaland Provincial Medical Director Dr Milton Chemhuru has urged all referral hospital to desist from making Tuberculosis, TB, patients pay when they seek treatment.
Dr Chemhuru was addressing media practitioners and a two day workshop organised by SAFAIDS under the theme “Telling the HIV Story”.
“TB treatment is free of charge, we should not negotiate about it, sputum test are also done for free so is the CD4 count tests, I want to urge all health workers to desist from making these people pay because they are poor,” said Dr Chemhuru.
Dr Chemhuru said in Manicaland they received a report that Hauna District Hopsital was making TB patients pay between US$2 and US$3 to have sputum tests and they have since intervened at it has since stopped.
“We have intervened and this has stopped,” said Dr Chemhuru.
Dr Chemhuru also said Manicaland now has seven microscopic centres where people can go and have sputum tests.
He also said Manicaland province now has two gene expert machines which were donated to Murambinda and Birchenough Hospitals by Medecines San Fronteers Belgium. Dr Chemhuru said the machines can examine 10 patients in just two hours.
“The machine can dictate that one has positive TB and that you are already resistant, this machine is more accurate than the microscopic tests,” said Dr Chemhuru.
Dr Chemhuru said these machines will increase the numbers of TB patients who were missing in the community even when microscopic tests where being conducted.
Dr Chemhuru said they are now currently working with communities in empowering them with knowledge on TB.
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