Maseru, Mar.25--Sustainable investment of resources, support, care and information are vital to ensure universal access to Tuberculosis (TB) care and for research.

This emerged in the words of recommendations which were made by the World Health Organization (WHO) while urging countries to put in efforts towards the eradication of Tuberculosis across the globe.

In these recommendations, WHO stated that this is especially critical to close gaps in care and to ensure equitable access to prevention and care in line with WHO’s drive towards achieving Universal Health Coverage.

It added that more investments towards supporting the rollout of WHO-recommended TB preventive treatment options, shorter TB treatment regimens, rapid molecular diagnostics and tests for TB infection, other innovations and digital tools will lead to improvements in health outcomes and save millions of lives.

WHO further stated that importantly, investments in research and innovation are vital to fast-track efforts to reach the end TB targets.

Moreover, WHO indicated that Ending TB requires concerted action by all sectors to provide the right services, support and enabling safe environment in the right place, at the right time adding that poverty, inequity, under nutrition, comorbidities, discrimination, and stigma are major drivers of the TB epidemic.

Meanwhile, at the opening ceremony of the 15th Network of African Parliamentary Committees of Health (NEAPACOH) two-day meeting which was hosted by Lesotho in February, the Minister of Health Mr. Selibe Mochoboroane mentioned that the need to include food as part of treatments for people treated with Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the issues that must be implemented.

Ending TB requires concerted action by all sectors to provide the right services, support and enable a safe environment in the right place, at the right time. Poverty, inequity, under nutrition, commodities, discrimination and stigma are major drivers of the TB epidemic.