By Lucky Sindane
A CITY-WIDE health campaign will launch in the Eikenhof and Denver informal settlements east of the city centre, which have the highest rate of tuberculosis (TB) infection in Johannesburg, according to the Region 9 health department.
Smondo Ramokgopa, the HIV/Aids and TB co-ordinator in Region 9, said TB has grown in those areas because of the crowded living conditions, debilitation and malnutrition.
Health workers from Region 9 visited these areas on Tuesday, 15 March 2005 to create awareness about TB and to encourage residents to get tested for the disease at their nearest clinics.
"TB is infectious but if it is attended to at an early stage and the sick person follows the treatment properly, TB is curable," Ramokgopa said. "We have educated the residents [about the disease] and now we want people to be healthy and control TB in these areas."
The health workers will visit the areas again on Thursday, 17 March, but this time they will be testing people for TB. "People who have coughed for two or more weeks and who suspect that they may have contracted tuberculosis are encouraged to present themselves for testing," Ramokgopa said.
People who are tested during the campaign will be able to get their results from their local clinics on Tuesday, 22 March 2005. "The aim of this campaign is to get an 85 percent cure rate and to reach out to everybody," Ramokgopa said.
The campaign is part of World TB Day on Thursday, 24 March.
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