The City of Bulawayo is set to establish an advanced tuberculosis testing laboratory at Khami Road Clinic in a tri-nations collaborative initiative aimed at tackling one of the world’s leading killer diseases.
Zimbabwe, South Africa and Pakistan will be rolling out the RADIO-TB trial (Optimal Treatment Duration of Radiographically Apparent, Bacteriologically Unconfirmed Tuberculosis (TB) Identified through Active Case Finding) for over threee years.
According to the latest council minutes, the city has been selected to be part of the trial programme and will work closely with the government of Zimbabwe in implementing the programme.
Edwin Mzingwane, council’s director of health services, said while TB remained the world’s leading infectious cause of death after Covid-19, its screening has not been reliable.
Mzingwane highlighted that the country has relied mainly on chest X ray (CXR) screening in detecting TB, but the system has not been very efficient.
“Many such individuals had radiographic signs consistent with TB, but either tested negative on sputum tests or could not provide a specimen,” he said.
‘These cases were termed ‘bacteriologically unconfirmed TB,’ and optimal treatment for them was unclear.
“Clinical practice varied from immediate full-course treatment to deferring treatment until the disease progresses.”
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Mzingwane highlighted that the new Radio-TB trial was aimed at addressing the shortcomings of the Chest X ray screening.
The Radio-TB trial aimed to determine whether shorter treatment durations were non-inferior to the standard six-month course.
It also investigated whether immediate treatment was superior to deferred care.
Council will partner with the Health and Child Care ministry, the Biomedical Research and Training Institute (BRTI), a nonprofit research organisation that operated in collaboration with the Health and Child Care ministry and the University College London with further support from international academic and research partners.
Mzingwane said the new laboratory will be situated at the Khami Road Clinic, which used to house the Laboratory services that moved to the Thorngrove Infectious Diseases Hospital. Council sitting on September 3 2025 resolved that BRTI be offered the office space at the Khami Road Clinic.
Council also resolved that the Radio-TB trial commences upon receiving a written approval from the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe and Health ministry. —Masiyepambili.
