Govt to increase TB cure rate
Veronica Mohapeloa
26 August 2004
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang says government is working to increase the tuberculosis cure rate in the country.
She raised concerns about the development of the Multi-Drug Resistant-TB (MDR-TB), saying this has an effect especially on people living AIDS, who had to take antiretrovirals for the rest of their lives.
Addressing the media in Cape Town on Wednesday, Tshabalala-Msimang said a number of patients infected with TB did not complete their treatment, which was a necessary condition to cure the disease.
She said the MDR-TB treatment cost government about R20 000 a year per patient, and if patients completed the six to nine months' treatment it would only cost between R500 to R600 per patient annually.
She said South Africa had a TB cure rate of 65 percent and was working to increase this rate to 80 percent as required by the World Health Organisation.
Tshabalala-Msimang said government was mobilising
support from communities, including through the world-approved Directly Observed Short-Course Therapy (DOTS) to ensure that TB patients adhered to the treatment regime.
She said the country now has experience with the MDR-TB and was now increasing vigilance in this regard.
Giving an update on government's Comprehensive Plan for the Management, Care and Treatment of HIV and AIDS, she said all provinces had begun implementing the plan, and that the laboratories had also improved their capacity at national level.
Government has set a target of placing 53 000 people on ARV treatment through the plan by March 2005 and so far 8 000 patients were receiving the antiretroviral drugs.
She said there was sufficient stock of the drugs in all the 85 accredited service points in the nine provinces, adding that the tender for the long-term supply of the drugs was to be completed next month.
On malaria, she said government had appointed an information officer for
each of the provinces affected, namely KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
In addition, an entomologist had been appointed in Limpopo.
She said the strengthening of the collaboration on the malaria project for the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiave had since inception four years ago, achieved a reduction in infection rates.
In Limpopo, a 96 percent reduction had been achieved, 91 percent in KwaZulu-Natal, while in Swaziland and in the southern parts of Mozambique an 86 percent reduction had been recorded.
South Africa had also drafted a co-operation document with Zimbabwe, through which that country received 10 tonnes of insecticide and 10 000 doses of antimalarial drugs.
"These commodities assisted in containing the spread of focal malaria outbreaks in Zimbabwe, and South Africa is now in discussions with Angola to collaborate on malaria control."
Source: BuaNews
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