REFILWE MEKOA
The Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality in the Free State has accumulated the highest provincial tuberculosis infections in the past year.
The Department of Health says it is due to more unemployed and poor people moving into the metro city. According to Acting Director of TB programmes Sonja van der Merwe, social dynamics and health services play major roles in the spread of the illness. Van der Merwe was speaking during a commemoration of World TB Day in Bloemfontein earlier this week. She said if more people acquire the knowledge of TB, there will be hope. Van der Merwe added that mining areas at the Lejweleputswa District had the highest TB rate in the province but now have a 90% success rate.
She said miners who are TB infected are closely monitored. “The gold dust makes a person more vulnerable and more prone to develop TB. Silicosis is one of the diseases that weakens the lung and a person can develop TB easily,” said Van der Merwe.
It was also stated that the province has the highest Tuberculosis death rate of 8.7% in the country. According to the provincial Head of Health Department David Motau, more focus is needed for patients infected with the Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR) TB. He said patients infected with this type of TB need to be accommodated at the hospital and transported separately from other patients. The Thabo Mofutsanyana District has the highest provincial TB death rate.
Motau said those who have a Multi-Drug Resistant TB should be treated urgently to improve early diagnosis. He added that not all hospitals have beds to accommodate MDR patients.
“The MDR patients, when diagnosed, need to be admitted to a hospital and treated over a certain period of time. Currently we are running short of about hundred beds in the province. We need to pull resources together to make sure that ultimately we are able to achieve that role of giving people the best health treatment they deserve,” he said.
Three vehicles were given to the Lejweleputswa, Fezile Dabi and Thabo Mofutsanyana Districts specifically for multi-drug resistant patients. Motau said the vehicles are to ensure that MDR patients are transported separately to their decentralised units.
“The obvious plan of the department is to zoom in on where the gaps exist and how to close them. Maybe we should have more people active on the issue, collaborate with our TB supporters, use our TB ambassadors to assist us to fight the surge of the illness,” said Motau.
