Stop TB Partnership

Former patients help PASADA carry out TB/HIV activities

30 January 2013 - Dar Es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania - PASADA, a nongovernmental organization working with communities affected by HIV/AIDS, has succeeded in recruiting a number of former patients to help provide TB/HIV services as volunteers.

The organization has an integrated approach to testing and treating people for TB and HIV. All HIV-positive members of the community are screened for TB and if, found to have the disease, are referred to the national TB programme.

The approach has paid dividends. PASADA reports a high TB treatment success rate and, thanks to antiretroviral drugs, has seen many of its clients return to active lives.

Some of them have gone one step further, volunteering to carry out TB/HIV awareness activities themselves. Starting in 2012, a group of volunteers has been giving health talks in their communities about TB symptoms, the importance of early diagnosis and how to cope with TB treatment. Now in 2013 the volunteers hope to become more involved in finding and caring for people with TB/HIV.