The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has received over $15 000 from the International Union Against Tuberculosis for the renovation of Thorngrove Isolation Hospital.
BCC director of health services Zanele Hwalima told council recently the wing being renovated would be used for drug-resistant TB cases from the south-western region of the country.
“In the face of emerging drug-resistant tuberculosis and the selection of Thorngrove Hospital to manage such cases from the south-western region of the country, council has received support from donors to renovate the western wing of the hospital,” she said.
The report states that Reliance Construction won the tender to renovate the wing and renovations at the hospital have already begun.
As at December last year, about 44 cases of lethal multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) were detected in Zimbabwe.
According to TB experts, one of the biggest challenges faced in curbing the spread of MDR-TB in the Southern Africa was posed by patients failing to complete their treatment courses.
A high proportion of TB/HIV patients were reportedly lost to follow-up due to migration to neighbouring countries in search of employment opportunities.
TB kills about 1,3 million people each year worldwide and another 9 million are suffering from the disease.
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TB is a contagious disease that spreads mainly in the air, usually affecting the lungs.
