26 September 2006

By Moruakgomo Masibi

THE fight against tuberculosis (TB) and other diseases was taken up by residents of Kagiso, who gathered at Kagisanong Hall in Kagiso One, or Lewisham, in a bid to learn how they could help the health department.

Organised by Sister Cecilia Selepe on behalf of the West Rand District health department, the gathering was a success. It was used as a platform for various speakers and the public to express their views on the issues affecting them.

Margaret Langa, the director of Itireleng Traditional Healers in Swanneville, expressed her disappointment at bogus inyangas who tricked patients into believing they could treat illnesses that they, in fact, could not cure.

She said they were not supposed to take money from patients whom they could not treat. For example, people with TB were often told that they had been bewitched or had food poisoning.

"We are against those who tell people with TB that they have been bewitched because it is wrong," Langa explained. "They only want to take money from patients even though they know that such a disease can be cured through western medicine. We were trained to deal with all types of disease and know the symptoms of each one of them."

Members of Itireleng Traditional Healers have undergone training at Yussuf Daddoo Hospital as part of a move to link up traditional healers and western practitioners to work together. They spent 69 days learning how to deal with various illnesses.

Francis Makgatho, a City councillor, agreed with Langa, saying that sangomas should stop giving medicine to people and should refer them to health officials. He said people often claimed that they were bewitched when they had TB.

Makgatho cited the lack of proper housing as a major contributor to the rise in TB. "Lack of proper housing is a one of the contributory factors to the increase in the disease. We, as Mogale City, are working on building houses for the masses but the programme is yet to unfold.

"In most cases, you find a family of more than eight members living in a small [house]," he explained.

TB medication needs to be taken for six months to ensure the sufferer is completely free of the disease, although patients often feel so much better they stop taking their medication before the full treatment period is complete.

Thembekuhle Karigeno, the assistant provincial director for TB advocacy in the provincial department of health, said that in 1996 in Gauteng alone more 10 000 people with TB died as a result of failing to take their medication for the full six months. That same year, 20 new cases of TB were reported each day.

It was a myth that the sickness only affected the poor, especially black people. "It does not choose who it attacks, and without proper medication it becomes severe. It is the patients' responsibility to ensure that they honour their treatment."

She sent a stern warning to those who failed to complete the course of medicine, saying that those who do not follow their doctors' orders faced death. Most patients gave up the treatment as they saw it as a long and tiring process, she said, but she encouraged them not to quit.

Karigeno said that miscommunication between nurses and their patients also delayed the cure rate of the feared disease. "We, as health workers, need to come down to the level of patients. We should not wait for the person to be seriously sick to take them to the clinic or hospital, but take them as soon as we see the signs."

Vuyo Segalagala, a Dots supporter, pleaded with members of the community to be involved with their health. She also agreed that proper communication between patents and caregivers was crucial.

Directly Observed Therapy Short-Course (Dots) support is an internationally recommended strategy for TB control. Dots supporters encourage people to be screened for TB and offer advice and support to those who have the disease. Crucially, they also ensure that sufferers complete their course of medication.

This is crucial as many TB sufferers do not finish taking their medication once they start feeling better, leading to the development of multi-drug resistant TB, and now extremely drug-resistant TB, which are very difficult to treat.

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