Aids and TB Unit deputy director in the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare Dr Charles Sandy said the cases would continue to increase as long as the backlog of TB cases was not cleared.

"The MDR cases cumulatively are increasing and we are likely to see the continued increase until we have cleared the backlog of cases, which we estimate to be around 1 000 but these are yet to be detected," said Dr Sandy.

According to recorded cases, 27 people with MDR-TB were put on treatment in 2009 and the cases rose to 74 in 2010.

As of September 2011, Government had recorded 76 confirmed MDR-TB cases.

MDR-TB arises when a strain of TB bacteria is resistant to two or more "first-line" antibiotic drugs. It is a serious problem and is very difficult to treat.

In normal first-line treatment, patients take the drugs isoniazid and rifampicin (the most effective tuberculosis drugs available) plus two or three other first-line drugs for around six to eight months.

If a person is resistant to the drugs, they are said to have MDR-TB, and will need to change to a regime containing newer and often less widely-available "second-line" drugs.

Treatment with second-line drugs can take a very long time, and is usually far more expensive than the standard directly observed treatment short course (DOTS) therapy.

MDR-TB is caused by prescription of inadequate chemotherapy and lack of adherence to prescribed drugs.

Meanwhile, recorded TB cases remain high across the country with a total of 17 612 cases recorded as at September 2011.

According to statistics from the Aids and TB Unit 24 873 cases were recorded in 2009 while 30 085 were recorded in 2010.

TB is a disease caused by an organism called mycobacterium tuberculosis. The bacteria can attack any part of the body such as the brain, kidneys or the spine but they most commonly attack the lungs.

These extrapulmonary TB cases are showing a decline in the past three years. "Historically, however if one compares the picture before the advent of HIV and now the relative proportion has increased," Dr Sandy said.

Zimbabwe's 2010 Millennium Development Goals Status Report says Zimbabwe is ranked 17 out of the world's 22 high-burden TB countries.

By The Herald