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South Africa: Mobilising Communities to Eliminate TB
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BuaNews (Tshwane)
4 July 2008
Posted to the web 4 July 2008
Gabi Khumalo
Durban
Mobilising communities into action is the best weapon to fight Tuberculosis (TB), says KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Finance and Economic Development, Dr Zweli Mkhize.
Addressing the country's first TB Conference, which started on Tuesday, Dr Mkhize warned against people who know of infected TB patients in their communities but did nothing about it.
"They are facilitating the spread of the disease and crippling the few members of our society who are economically active.
"It is critical that every household and member of our community gains a full appreciation for the fact that by depriving a person who is infected with TB of proper medical treatment, by not supporting such a person achieve 100 percent completion rate of treatment, they are turning our communities into premature graveyards," Dr Mkhize said.
He emphasised that the TB campaign has to be conducted at grassroots level to ensure the messages get to the ordinary citizen in a clear and consistent manner.
Dr Mkhize said there should be no mixed messages, accusations, denials, finger-pointing or hostilities in relaying the message.
"This is the time for unity-in-action between government and communities," Dr Mkhize said.
One of the messages which emanated from the conference was that "there is life after TB" and that "it is curable" even in the presence of HIV and AIDS.
"This is the message that must be spread throughout the country including government quarters, health institutions, villages and suburbs, informal settlements, taxi ranks and railway stations.
"It is a message that all leaders must help to spread and should not only be left to nurses and doctors to transmit," said Dr Mkhize.
Dr Mkhize further acknowledged the hard work done by TB health workers, saying more needed to be done on the side of government to assist the workers in their work in the area of TB treatment including the provision of quality care.
"We have taken heed of reports received from our health workers on the ground and reported in the media about inadequate facilities that endanger their lives and those of their patients," he said.
Dr Mkhize encouraged the delegates to practice what they preached and tackle the TB challenge.
"It is possible, we are not discouraged nor deterred by the challenges we face, let us tell South Africa that TB anywhere is TB everywhere, let us march on until we win this battle and enjoy life free of TB," Dr Mkhize said.
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He noted that the current cure rate of 57 percent was low when compared to the 85 percent expected by the World Health Organisation.
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