The 2006 TB Crisis Plan is launched at the Regina Mundi Church in Soweto

RELATED LINKS: Joburg steps up fight against TB Tuberculosis is on Joburg's health agenda this month, with awareness campaigns planned for across the city. This is to mark World TB Day, on 24 March. The theme this year focuses on eradicating the disease. Read more Health department: TB is curable AS PART of its World TB Day activities, the Joburg department of health is conducting door-to-door education and awareness campaigns that the disease is curable. Read more Low-down on rising TB rates - and treatment The lengthy duration of treatment, socio-economic conditions, and HIV/Aids are primary reasons for the growing rate of infection. Read more Major public hospitals and clinics Telephone numbers and street addresses of municipal community clinics, provincial hospitals, and care centres, arranged alphabetically by suburb. The list covers both greater Johannesburg and nearby satellite towns. Read more

City declares war on TB A new campaign to involve community members in the fight against tuberculosis, which has increased significantly over the last eight years, has been launched in Johannesburg. August 7, 2006 By Thabang Mokoka THE first shots in a war against TB were fired in Johannesburg on Friday, 4 August, with the launch of a national plan to cut down the number of cases. The plan focuses on getting local communities involved in controlling the spread of the disease through detecting the infection in its early stages. Johannesburg is one of four municipalities selected to implement the TB Crisis Plan 2006/07. The other three are the Nelson Mandela Metro and Amatole district municipality in the Eastern Cape and eThekwini Metro in kwaZulu/Natal. Declaring war on TB, the minister for health Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, Gauteng MEC for health Brian Hlongwa, and City of Johannesburg's mayoral committee member for health Matshidiso Mfikoe. "We are here to declare war on TB," said Gauteng's MEC for health Brian Hlongwa at the launch at the Regina Mundi Church in Soweto. "We as the City, provincial and national [governments] commit ourselves to fight against this disease." Some R40-million has been set aside for the programme, according to the national minister for health, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. Key to the intervention strategy is the prevention and early detection of the disease. This will ensure effective diagnosis and treatment. Equally important is the follow up support. The plan also aims to educate communities about TB, particularly how to detect signs of infection at an early stage. Intervention methods include the Directly Observed Treatment Strategy (DOTS). This involves volunteers visiting patients' homes through the lengthy treatment period of between six and eight months. Their support helps to improve the cure rate through ensuring that patients take all the medicine and complete their treatment. According to Tshabalala-Msimang, it costs the department of health R400 per person for those who complete the course of treatments, while that cost goes up to R24 000 for those who do not complete the course and have to start with a stronger course of medication as well as being hospitilised. The DOTS programme tries to ensure that medicines are supplied without interruptions, that all tests are undertaken, and that patients are supported and monitored. "We [are asking] all community members and the private sector to work together," said Tshabalala-Msimang. An electronic TB register will be employed to monitor and evaluate the success of the project. TB can be cured While TB is a serious problem worldwide, and causes more deaths in South Africa than any other infectious disease, it is curable, according to a press release issued by the City's department of health. It is spread through coughing, spitting or sneezing. A virus, TB attacks the lungs and can also spread through the blood to other parts of the body. Director general in the department of health, Thami Mseleku, addresses health officials and other guests at the launch of the TB Crisis Plan at the Regina Mundi Church, Soweto Symptoms include a cough that lasts for two weeks or longer, chest pain, loss of weight, feeling tired or weak and night sweats. Anyone with such symptoms is urged to go for tests and, if necessary, treatment. Testing and treatment is free at all government clinics. The TB Crisis Plan was developed in response to a regional meeting of the World Health Organisation in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2005, which declared TB an emergency in Africa. Over the past eight years there has been a significant increase in the spread of the disease, with 550 out of 100 000 people being diagnosed in South Africa. The World Health Organisation regards an incidence rate of more than 200/100 000 as a serious epidemic. The provinces most affected are KwaZulu/Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng, which have about 80 percent of all cases. Gauteng has the third highest number of TB cases in the country, with the Johannesburg having 44 percent of those cases, some 515 cases per 100 000 people in 2005. This figure is attributed, according to a City statement, to the late reporting of the disease due to a lack of awareness of the disease and the stigma associated with TB. Other factors include the late detection of patients by healthcare workers because of a low level of suspicion of tuberculosis; a poor commitment to treatment, which is the result of a lack of understanding of the importance of completing treatment; and the high mobility of patients and co-infection of patients with TB/HIV. 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