“‘Mining communities at risk of contracting TB’”, 20 Aug 2014: People working and living in mining communities could be six times more at risk of contracting tuberculosis than those in other occupations, Government has said. Deputy director of Aids and Tuberculosis in the Ministry of Health…Dr Charles Sandy, said the statistics were based on trends coming from…South Africa, Botswana and…Zimbabwe…He said silicosis was one of the major drivers of TB…accounting for about 30 percent [of infections] and ranking second to HIV and Aids. Dr Sandy said…Zimbabwe was…working…to come up with clear response interventions…He said TB data collection would now include one’s occupation. Senior TB and laboratory analysts with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) Zimbabwe, Ms Ana Svoren, said an estimated 632 025 miners were working in Zimbabwe. She said according to a recent study on TB in mining communities, the majority of miners in the informal sector or working for small mining companies had no access to health care services…