Mukikute is a patient organisation for tuberculosis patients in Tanzania.

The organisation is managed by former tuberculosis patients, who work as treatment supporters for persons with tuberculosis and HIV on a voluntary basis. The members of Mukikute do not receive any pay, but they have the right of co-determination in the organisation. They get motivation in the form of various training initiatives, which include health communication, knowledge of tuberculosis and HIV, organisational development and income generating initiatives.

Public education on tuberculosis in Temeke with the aid of drama.

Read more about our peer support work here.

Important role models

Former tuberculosis patients who work as voluntary treatment assistants are important supporters in the fight against tuberculosis:

• They increase the knowledge of tuberculosis and HIV through public education in the local community.
• They motivate patients to test themselves, master their own disease and complete their treatment.
• They contribute to reducing the stigma. They appear in the town square, in the slum, at schools, at hospitals and clinics, and they tell about their own experiences.
• They follow up patients who are being treated at home and motivate them to take their daily dose of medicines.
• They cooperate with the public health service.

Former patients are important role models, they are living proof that you can recover from tuberculosis.

Home visits are an important part of the work of Mukikute. Here Nurse Scholastica Sagala is talking with a tuberculosis patient in Temeke.

New focus areas for Mukikute

Mukikute is now putting extra focus on the groups in society that are the most vulnerable to tuberculosis and HIV, such as:

• the Maasai
• fishermen near Lake Victoria
• migrants
• substance abusers
• miners
• sex workers