HEALTH officials and other stakeholders involved in the screening of tuberculosis (TB) patients are reportedly experiencing difficulties tracking down TB-infected artisanal miners due to their nomadic life.
By Stephen Chadenga
Gweru district medical officer Shakespear Mureyani said it was critical for inter-sectional collaboration involving all stakeholders when dealing with TB screening for illegal miners.
“It becomes a pipe-dream to make a follow-up on illegal miners as most of them are of no fixed abode,” Mureyani said while addressing stakeholders at a community systems’ strengthening strategy dissemination meeting on TB in Gweru last week.
“There is need to decriminalise illegal miners, so that they feel they are part of the community so that they can properly be registered.”
Mureyani said licensed small-scale miners are easy to track in TB screening, unlike their counterparts who operate illegally and are always trying to run away from law enforcement agents.
Midlands is home to thousands of illegal miners involved in gold and chrome mining.
Health experts say miners are at risk of contracting TB compared to the general populace.
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Studies have shown that both licensed small-scale and illegal miners have been failing to observe basic occupational and safety standards with most of the miners operating without protective gear.
