Health Focus
A leading cause of death in South Africa, Tuberculosis (TB) is a potentially deadly disease that affects us all.
On 24th March each year, millions of people across the globe join hands to mark World TB Day – a celebration of the many doctors, nurses, patients, researchers and community workers who tirelessly fight against this dreaded condition.
While the disease has been eradicated or controlled in many parts of the world, it remains a crippling problem among developing nations, including Africa and Asia.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), a staggering 1.1 million to 1.77 million people died of TB in 2008 – the equivalent of thousands of deaths a day. These victims were HIV-negative. A large number of TB deaths also occurred among HIV-positive patients, who already have severely weakened immune systems and so are particularly susceptible to the disease.
Many people who have never encountered TB dismiss it as a disease of the poor. However, although it is linked to poverty, it is highly contagious – and an untreated sufferer can infect an average of 10 – 15 people annually.
It’s essential for South Africans – and visitors to the country – to be up to speed on local developments on the TB front. WHO statistics reveal that, while case detection rate has remained “above target” for several years, treatment success rates here are low, resulting in high default and death rates.
A sobering reality is that South Africa reports the highest number of confirmed MDR-TB and XDR-TB cases in this region. In layman’s terms, this essentially refers to multi-drug resistant TB and extensively drug-resistant TB respectively.
While the country is forging ahead with collaborative TB and HIV activities, WHO reports that in 2007 alone, almost 40% of notified TB patients were HIV-tested – and 35% – 67% received HIV-positive results.
Digesting the reality of TB may not be easy, but it’s certainly necessary. Since more than two billion people – a third of the global population – are infected with TB bacilli (the microbes that cause the disease), it’s not surprising that one in ten people will become ill with active TB during a lifetime.
Health authorities, however, are working hard to control the pandemic. The Stop TB strategy, a WHO brainchild, aims to decrease the prevalence of – and deaths due to – TB by 50% in 2015, compared to figures from 1990.
Melissa Gaba, an Eastern Cape domestic assistant, says that access to information about the disease helped her to identify symptoms in her four-year-old daughter, Andiswa, early last year.
“Her coughing was worrying me and she was also losing weight. Before we received information about TB, I would have ignored these symptoms – but I took her to the clinic and she tested positive.”
Andiswa was put on the correct medication and is now on the mend. Without access to grassroots knowledge, however, she may have become another statistic of the worldwide pandemic.
Doing your bit to understand TB will help greatly in the fight to halt its spread. Keep these tips in mind:
- Always wash your hands frequently, particularly if you’ve been in contact with someone who suffers from a chronic cough.
- Do not stand too close to people when they are coughing and you feel that you or your family might be at risk of contracting TB.
- Lots of fresh air is very healthy – so get outdoors and avoid being in closed, stuffy environments for prolonged periods.
- Eat healthy, nutritious food, ensuring that you have enough fibre, protein, calcium, minerals and vitamins in your diet.
- An annual TB skin test is available at local clinics. Alternatively, a chest x-ray is suitable if you are sensitive to the skin test procedure.
Story by Beth Cooper
