SA’s TB crisis puts health workers at risk
As the fourth-highest TB-burdened country in the world, South Africa's health workers have a high risk of contracting the disease due to largely absent safety compliance.
HOSPERSA, a trade union for employees in the public service and private sector, called on the Department of Labour to intervene in the TB crisis facing healthcare workers.
World TB Day, 24 March, highlights the world TB crisis, which South Africa is also currently facing. According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Global TB report 2015, a country is in crisis when it has a TB incidence rate of 200 to 600 cases of TB per 100 000 people. South Africa incident rate is 834 cases per 100 000 people, above the crisis level. “The WHO has now also developed three high-burden lists for TB, multi-drug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) and HIV/TB co-infection, and South Africa is one of the 14 countries that appear on all three high burden lists,” said Chumisa Mangaliso, media and communications officer at Hospersa.
South Africa has moved from the third highest to fourth highest TB-burdened country in the world. “The South African health workforce is directly responsible for delivering the biggest HIV and ARV roll-out programme in the world,” said Mangaliso. “They are also responsible for rolling out the health programme for the fourth-highest TB burdened country, among other pressing disease profiles.” She also noted that South Africa’s healthcare workers face disproportionate levels of risk of contracting TB, MDR-TB and XDR-TB (extensively drug-resistant TB) while on duty.
“Hospersa can state with conviction that employers of healthcare workers, both public and private, are falling to address such special measures for healthcare workers. The occupational health and safety compliance, in relation to preventing and mitigating TB among health care workers, is largely absent.
“Healthcare workers have no access to mandatory routine medical surveillance. Training around TB prevention for healthcare workers is inadequate. Provisioning of personal protective equipment, such as N95 masks, is often not available.
“We strongly believe that we cannot end TB if our health workforce becomes TB-infected, fuelling the spread of TB instead of reducing it. The situation is at crisis level and deserves urgent attention,” said Mangaliso.
Hospersa is set to approach the Department of Labour to intervene and ensure compliance with the occupational health laws of South Africa, with direction from the Department of Health and provincial and private sector health employers.
