KZN lauded for reducing TB cases

The King Cetshwayo District in KwaZulu-Natal has been lauded for making big strides in reducing its tuberculosis (TB) rate, Zululand Observer reports.

Health MEC Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo said that through combined efforts, the TB incidence in KZN showed a very favourable year-on-year decline from 1 149 per 100 000 population in 2011/12 to 511 per 100 000 population in 2016/17.

READ MORE: TB remains the No 1 killer in South Africa

He said King Cetshwayo District has reduced it from 1 141 per 100 000 population in 2011 to 616 per 100 000 population in the 2016/17 financial year.

“KZN is the hardest hit when it comes to high co-infection rate of both TB and HIV with statistics showing that we are currently at 65%.

“As a department, we remain ready to eliminate this curable disease with all the systems and processes in place to deal with this,” he said.

Queen Nandi Memorial Hospital in Empangeni

Delivering the provincial health department’s 2018/19 budget, Dhlomo noted the successes of the past year and plans for the 2018/19 financial year.

Among them is the successful establishment of a collaboration with the Joint Medical House of Oncologists, based at Richards Bay Medical Institute, to treat public sector cancer patients.

With more than R11 million set aside for provincial hospital services in this financial year, Dhlomo said the department had commissioned Queen Nandi Memorial and Newcastle as specialised Mother and Child Hospitals as means to reduce neonatal and maternal mortality.

“In this regard Queen Nandi Memorial Hospital has a state-of-the-art neonatal unit [92 beds including 16 neonatal ICU and 16 high care beds and 24 pre-term high care beds, 20 special beds as well as 16 Kangaroo care beds].

“For Ngwelezana and Edendale hospitals, we commissioned specialised Accident and Emergency Services that comply with international norms and standards,” he said.

He added the department was exploring mechanisms for takeover and rationalisation of Siloah Lutheran Hospital in the Zululand District.

The institution, situated between Vryheid and Nongoma, has shown “some strains in running its own affairs”, and the department has therefore taken a resolution to extend grant funding for a period of six months while exploring mechanisms for takeover and rationalisation of the hospital.

For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.