Dedza, November 11: Parliamentary Caucus on Tuberculosis and Leprosy Chairperson, Kamlepo Kalua says orienting members of the Parliamentary Caucus on TB and Leprosy will make Malawi Parliament join other 154 countries which did same.
Speaking in Dedza on Friday during orientation of the caucus on TB and Leprosy, Kalua said TB is one of the most deadly but curable diseases that could be eliminated with collective effort.
“We want to implement programmes jointly with the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Elimination Programme (NTLEP) to show the much needed political will and also lobby for more funding towards the TB and Leprosy elimination. We need to have mobile TB screening vans in every constituency to enhance TB outreach programme,” he said.
One of the stakeholders in the TB and Leprosy Elimination Programme, Facilitators of Community Transformation (FACT) Executive Director Thokozile Phiri-Nkhoma said the idea of a parliamentary caucus stems from the global movement of parliamentarians to advocate for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals one of which is health for all by 2030 specifically looking at the political commitment.
NTLEP executive director James Mpunga said the programme wanted to familiarise and update the members of the Parliamentary TB Caucus with the most recent TB/HIV and Leprosy information and management strategies.
“The TB Caucus exists to raise the profile of the global TB epidemic and accelerate progress on the elimination of the disease,” he said.
