Minister’s alarm over new TB cases
Health minister Aaron Motsoaledi announced at the World TB Day commemoration in Mdantsane on Thursday that out of 97,000 people screened for tuberculosis (TB) in the Eastern Cape, 376 had tested positive in the last 26 days.
Motsoaledi was speaking at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium, where he and provincial government figureheads marked World TB Day, which falls on March 24. National government has embarked in a commemoration campaign, headed by deputy president David Mabuza, criss-crossing the country this month, raising TB awareness.
Mabuza could not travel to Mdantsane due to ill-health.
Dignitaries included premier Phumulo Masualle, Buffalo City Metro mayor Xola Pakati, health MEC Helen Sauls-August.
Motsoaledi said they were concerned with the high number of people who had tested positive for TB.
“In 26 days only, [provincial government officials] got 376 people who have TB and 322 of them have started treatment and the other 54 haven’t yet started treatment. I gave an instruction to nurses that they must go out and find them and put them on treatment.
“We’re very concerned about the high number and that’s why in 2017, the United Nations called heads of states to go to New York…to say: ‘please talk about this disease because it’s a silent killer. It does trouble us’.
“The campaign [where 97,000 people were tested] has been there all the time, but the reason I was making a noise about it is because it is sort of laid low,” he said.
Motsoaledi said the campaign focused on vulnerable people, especially in families where a member had suffered TB.
“We first start by screening. We don’t just bring everyone because testing can mean testing your sputum, and you might not have it if you’re not even coughing. They do oral screening first, where you’re asked five questions.”
Earlier, Motsoaledi visited a family in Mdantsane, where he heard that a man, who had multi drug-resistant TB, had gone to two hospitals which had failed to diagnose him.
“He went to the clinic and found out he had TB, which means the hospitals were not looking for TB, they were looking for the disease that brought him to hospital.
“That’s why I [maintain] that people must ask to be screened.
“Again, we asked ourselves what were the contributing factors, so we looked at the people who have had TB before. I think for us, not waiting for people to come to our facilities and going out there, is the best way going forward.”
Motsoaledi and Masualle signed a memorandum at the Highway taxi rank, establishing a collaboration between provincial government and the taxi associations. Masualle said this move was intended to solicit participation from the taxi drivers. He said residents had told him about their waiting-time concerns at the health facilities in Mdantsane.
TB-HIV care regional manager, Luzuko Tosh said his organisation had screened 53 people for HIV and TB at the event. His organisation was one of more than a double dozen NGOs that screened residents at the event and in the community...
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