THURSDAY, 4.00PM
The tuberculosis epidemic in South Africa is among the world’s worst, according to Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma, and unless TB sufferers are educated to take their treatment in full, the disease will not be controlled.
“Everyone should know that TB can be completely cured in almost all cases by taking a complete course of treatment for six months,” Zuma said in a statement on Thursday.
She said drastic measures are needed to cure and prevent the disease. About 160 000 South Africans from all walks of life became ill with TB every year, she added. According to National TB Control Programme head Dr Refiloe Matji, the trend is increasing and unless effective action is taken, an estimated 650 000 people will become ill by 2005.
Statistics show that about 20% of TB patients begin treatment but do not complete it.
While the health department is making significant progress in its fight against TB, there is an urgent need for greater community involvement in combating the disease, Zuma said. To that end, President Nelson Mandela will administer a course of TB treatment to a patient in Nobody in the Northern Province on Saturday. Mandela will also open the 350th clinic built in the past 24 months. Zuma said more than 8,5-million South Africans have already benefited from government’s clinic building and upgrading programme.