Alexandra's 4th Street Clinic will mark World Tuberculosis Day with a special event to raise public awareness and educate the public about tuberculosis (TB), which continues to claim lives around the world.
During the event, Ministry of Health officials promoted the importance of prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of people infected with the disease.
Sister Tseki Dibate, Acting Operations Manager of the clinic, shared with the community the importance of completing the entire tuberculosis treatment course to cure the disease and also to avoid the spread of the disease.
“Good people, tuberculosis is contagious but curable. If you get tuberculosis, you are a threat not only to yourself but also to those around you who may not be infected, so seek treatment.” is important.
“Here at the clinic, we have a problem with defaulters because when a person is sick, they come to the clinic and after a few days, when they stop taking their medication and feel better, we treat them.
“If that person gets sick again, they will be afraid to come to the clinic because the treatment is not yet finished. What will happen to that person is that they will eventually die.
“We have seen many cases where people die after receiving treatment for only six or 12 months, depending on the type of tuberculosis,” she said.
Debate added that there are currently 36 people with tuberculosis and the cure rate remains at 85%, although the target is 95% but could reach 100%.
Lebohan Mdluli from Open Diagnostics, a private health facility in Alexandra, said his company handles X-ray services, which play a key role in detecting tuberculosis. She said they will do an X-ray on her to see if she has tuberculosis in her chest and check for the progression of tuberculosis in her lungs. She said, “When you come to our office, all you have to do is hand over your doctor's referral and she will give you a two-hour wait time before reporting.”
One tuberculosis survivor, Ssendziwe Bijiwa, had no idea she had tuberculosis because she had never coughed. She only had swollen legs and shortness of breath, but she later underwent an X-ray. When he went to the hospital, he discovered that he had bone tuberculosis and began receiving treatment, he said. For 9 months.
Mr. Bijwa urged people to take care of their health by always going to clinics and getting tested and exercising at home, whether they are sick or not, as it is essential to protect themselves. Ta. “Prevention is better than cure,” she said.
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