KwaZulu-Natal TB Blitz Campaign Mpumalanga Township, Hammarsdale
6 August 2006
Greetings
Since Thursday, we have been visiting various communities trying to raise
awareness about the problem of (tuberculosis) TB and the need for all of us to
work together to address it.
We started in East London in Eastern Cape where, despite the heavy rain that
affected this province, we visited households around uMdantsane Township. I
must say that the challenges of poverty, unemployment and food insecurity are
enormous and they are the main underlying factors in the spread of TB in our
communities.
On Friday we started with a meeting with business representatives in
Johannesburg where we discussed co-operation around TB control particularly at
the workplace. They expressed their commitment to work with government in
intensifying TB control measures.
After this meeting, we proceeded to Soweto where we had a wonderful
community event despite the cold weather of Johannesburg. People came in
numbers supporting the Department of Healthâs call to action against TB.
We have been here in KwaZulu-Natal since yesterday visiting various places
around eThekwini Metro. Today, we are here in Mpumalanga Township to spread the
same message â that we have to work together to address the problem of TB in
our communities.
Firstly, we have to know the symptoms.
As a country we can overlook the seriousness of tuberculosis and the impact
it has on the economy of the country. Most of the cases we report as a country
come from this province with close to 80 000 cases reported last year. This
being the most populated province in the country and has one of the highest
unemployment rate and poverty.
Just these factors on their own explain why the province has such a huge
epidemic and is further compounded by the fact that this province has a high
prevalence of HIV among pregnant women which translates to an increase in HIV
related TB as well.
In order for us control TB we need to look at all these factors and come up
with sustainable interventions to address them. This is what the National TB
Crisis Management Plan attempts to do.
We are detecting a lot of people with the disease and starting them on
treatment but:
* We are actually detecting them late either because they come late to our
clinics because of ignorance about the disease or after having consulted other
practitioners such as traditional healers, pharmacists and even general
practitioners.
* We miss some in our clinics/hospitals because we are not vigilant enough for
TB disease
As a result by the time the diagnosis is made the person has already spread
the disease to other people she/he comes into contact with or it is late to
cure them and end up dying which should not be the case because the drugs are
available free of charge in all the clinics and hospitals TB is curable.
I am happy that today we are launching the taxi advertising campaign as well
because taxis and buses have potential for the transmission of TB, in that if
there is one infectious person who is persistently coughing in a taxi with
windows closed on a long distance trip by the time it reaches its destination
most of the people have been exposed to the infection and most likely infected.
We need to therefore educate communities about the risks they place not only on
themselves but to others as well.
Secondly for those who are actually started on treatment do not continue
until they complete the treatment. The reasons for this could not understand
the need to adhere to drugs for the full duration of treatment. Most people
feel within two weeks of taking medication and stop. This then results in the
disease developing again and even worse the development of the resistant form
of TB which is much more difficult and expensive to treat.
The stigma associated with TB is not helping much either as people tend to
hide the fact that they have the disease. Therefore communities need to lead in
educating individuals about the disease and treatment literacy to ensure people
understand how the drugs work and importance of adherence.
Issued by: Department of Health
6 August 2006
