THE MEC for Health in KwaZulu-Natal, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo, said that although the province had made ‘significant progress’ in improving the rate of curing those with TB, there were still far too many new TB infections.
MEC Dhlomo embarked on the third TB awareness campaign in under a week at Eshowe recently. He was accompanied by the department’s TB ambassador, Prince Nhlanganiso Zulu.
MEC Dhlomo handed out pamphlets with TB information at an Eshowe taxi rank and also engaged with taxi operators and commuters about how to prevent TB, how to spot its signs and symptoms as well as the importance of adhering to the correct treatment schedule in order to prevent Drug-Resistant TB.
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KwaZulu-Natal has made steady progress in the fight to curb the spread of TB. In 2016 there were 62 790 new, confirmed TB cases which translated to 580 cases per 100 000 people. This notes a decrease from 73 318 TB cases in the previous year.
Despite the high burden of TB and high TB and HIV co-infection rate of 65 per cent, the provincial treatment outcomes have progressively improved from 55 per cent in 2005 to 88.6 per cent in 2016 which surpasses the target of 85 per cent.
In a bid to fight TB head-on, TB screening is now standard practice at all health facilities in the province, which was enforced by a circular in 2014. The circular states that all attendees regardless of the reason for the visit should be screened for TB.
Speaking at Eshowe, MEC Dhlomo, said, “We have now decided that the fight against TB is bigger than one MEC, one Department, or one government. It needs all of us.”
“In KZN, the figures are enormous. We are told that if you have 250 new TB infections per 100 000 people, that is considered by the WHO as an epidemic. We in this province are four to five times more. We are sitting with up to 800 new TB infections.”
MEC Dhlomo said he was extremely concerned that people did not finish their TB treatment as this would provide a fertile ground for the disease to develop a resistance to the drugs.
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