Malawi tackles TB with OneStopTB clinics

With a population of approximately 18 million people, Malawi has one of the highest estimated numbers of incident TB cases among people with HIV. Nearly 26000 people are estimated to have developed TB, and an additional 11615 are considered missing persons with TB. There is, however, another optimistic statistic. The TB treatment success rate in the nation is more than 80%. This means that Malawi needs active TB screening programs to stay ahead of the curve.

Most of the nation lives in rural areas where our OneStopTB clinics have been helpful. We have provided seven OneStopTB clinics to the country. It is our biggest project to date.

The nation was classified into seven regions, with each area assigned its OneStopTB clinic. Additionally, several training sessions were conducted for the capacity building of personnel. This training included application and user training on the OneStopTB clinic and EasyDR, IT training (PACS and CAD4TB) and technical support.

Making a difference

Over the years, different stakeholders in Malawi have published about utilising the OneStopTB clinics and the CAD4TB software. Their scientific efforts showed that digital CXR using CAD4TB with universal HIV screening significantly increased timelines and completeness of HIV and TB diagnosis.