In Zimbabwe, there is a wide recognition of the need to integrate TB and HIV services but for people living with HIV (PLHIV), it is not evident, said Martha Tholanah, Coordinator of the International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW) Zimbabwe Chapter. While Zimbabwe has made progress in implementing collaborative TB/HIV activities, much work still remains to be done to make them an integral part of the health service. Tholanah said that civil society in had also failed to spearhead the integration of TB and HIV in the country. “There is too much fragmentation. National AIDS Council (NAC) needs to strengthen coordination. I think we (CS) have always made much noise about demanding NAC to be accountable, but I do not think we have been accountable ourselves,” said Tholanah.

Although virtually no public or political attention is paid to it as a public health issue, tuberculosis remains among the top 10 killers of children worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that approximately 176,000 children have died, but the consensus among researchers says that actual figures are higher. In 2009 alone, at least 1 million children became sick with TB.

On March 8, and across the world the International Women's Day is being commemorated. Coincidentally, March is the global tuberculosis (TB) awareness month. The disease, which is caused by a mycrobatrium, has a major impact on women's sexual reproductive health and that of their children.