Gauteng health tackles MDR-TB
The department said more than 50 percent of patients with drug resistant TB are treated in Gauteng health facilities annually.
The Gauteng Health Department has cited a highly mobile population as the reason the department is unable to reach all its patients.
The department said more than 50 percent of patients with drug resistant TB are treated in Gauteng health facilities annually.
This is after the Gauteng Health MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, recently replied to a question posed by Mr Jack Bloom, the DA’s MPL and Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, at the Gauteng Legislature.
Mr Mahlangu said there are an estimated 1 000 Multi-Drug Resistant TB (MDR-TB) cases in Gauteng, but only 217 of these cases have been placed on treatment.
The department said the 217 cases are patients who have been placed on treatment in the first quarter of 2015; not the whole year.
“In 2014, 1 007 patients were diagnosed and 494 started treatment. This translates to almost 50 percent of the cases started on treatment. In 2013, 569 were treated out of 857 the whole year. In 2012, 417 were treated out of 747,” said Mr Steve Mabona, who was speaking on behalf of the department.
According to Mr Mabona, the department is concerned with the increase in the number of MDR-TB cases from the previous years; 747 in 2012, 857 in 2013 and 1 007 in 2014.
The department believes that while all efforts, including community-based initiatives through the ward based outreach teams have been implemented, these are frustrated by the high number of people who cross provincial and national borders to access healthcare services.
“The highly mobile populations impact negatively on treatment outcomes. For diseases such as TB, it makes the work of community caregivers and healthcare professionals very difficult. Many people who start treatment move to other provinces and are lost. The message that the department is echoing in all communities is that TB can be cured,” he said.
The DA said there needs to be a higher priority in tracing people with this virulent form of TB as they are a danger to others and need to be treated if they are to have a chance of survival.
“The department calls on all members of society to work with it in eradicating TB by encouraging those with symptoms to visit a clinic. Those who are tested positive must to take their medication regularly to completion,” said Mr Mabona.
The department reported a decrease in the number of TB cases in the province and that over a million patients were screened in 2014.
The department will expand the GeneXpert technology, which has a high sensitivity for all forms of TB and has improved the effectiveness of MDR-TB treatment initiation.
