Bank (WB) funded regional project launched in 2016 with the aim of strengthening the health sector’s response to Tuberculosis and occupational lung diseases. It is implemented in four (4) Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States: Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.In partnership with the WB and Member States, the NEPAD Agency and East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) collaborate to provide technical supportin project implementation in the participating countries.

Globally, Tuberculosis causes more deaths than HIV/AIDS annually and it is estimated that 1.5million people died of Tuberculosis in 2014 with Africa accounting for 450,000 deaths, the second highest in the world.1The Southern Africa sub-region is the epicentre with the highest Tuberculosis case rates on the continent with elevated TB/HIV coinfection rates. In addition, inadequate treatment of Tuberculosis creates resistance to first line drugs, leading to Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) Tuberculosis which require much more expensive drugs to treat, with higher levels of toxicity, higher case fatality and increased treatment failure rates. This project is a response aimed at addressing some of the challenges of Tuberculosis in Africa by targeting the most affected areas and communities in low income countries.” As a result, this project targets interventions in the mining communities, transport corridors and cross-border areasof theparticipating countries in the SADC region, as well as the neighbouring countries.