The Limpopo Department of Health and Social Development has dedicated the month of March as a tuberculosis (TB) awareness month. In this month, the Department has been engaged in a number of activities around the province. These range from door-to-door campaigns, road shows which targeted taxi ranks and shopping centers; and health visits to households of TB patients. In these activities, we continue to educate the public about the services that are available to them free of change and the importance of knowing their health status. We have been going around with 10 different teams per day that include amongst them: two nurses, two community health workers and one lay counsellor and have provided services like TB screening, sputum collection, HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) and referrals were necessary.
The Department will also be commemorating the provincial World TB Day, where the MEC for Health and Social Development, Mme Dikeledi Magadzi, will be giving a keynote address. On this day, she will also be speaking about the importance of knowing one’s HIV status especially when one has TB and the importance of being screened for TB even when you are living with HIV. The event is scheduled as follows:
Venue: Tshifulanani Stadium, Thulamela municipality, Vhembe district
Date: Friday, 18 March 2011
Time: 10h00
Our message is very clear: TB is curable. Everyone who has been coughing for more than two weeks, has fever and sweating at night, loss of appetite and weight, tiredness, a general feeling of illness, shortness of breath, chest pains and sometimes blood stained sputum; must visit any of our health facilities for proper and early diagnosis. TB can be cured if patients take TB treatment daily for six months or eight months as per advice of a health professional. TB patients will continue to pass TB to others if they are not diagnosed or they don’t take treatment as directed. People living with HIV can be cured of TB as well. Some of the precautions that we encourage people to take is: cover their mouth and nose when they cough or sneeze and not spitting on the ground. If we join hands together, we can stop TB.
Enquiries:
Joe Maila
Cell: 082 887 3581
Commemoration of the provincial World TB day
Province
