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South Africa TB News

World TB News

National Department of Health (NDoH) Supports Soccer Balls for
Health Awareness Events around the World Cup in the Western Cape

 By Sara Chitambo; additional reporting by Ramona Baijnath(NDoH)



   
Most people know about the lost city of Atlantis but here in South Africa, in the Western Cape province, we have our own version which is referred to by its inhabitants as the “forgotten city of Atlantis.”

This western district town roughly 50 km north of Cape Town, has approximately 210,000 residents. High levels of poverty and unemployment, estimated at around 50%, plague this town, has resulted in drug and alcohol abuse, gangsterism and  general sense of fatalism amongst the youth.

Though the world cup was in full swing by mid June, the community had not yet had any activities to partake in to celebrate the event.  With no official FIFA viewing site in the area, the community was treated to soccer themed health and wellness activities at the  by Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa and other partners

The scrutinize campaigns typically take place on university campuses but for the duration of the 2010 World Cup, the campaign targeted fan parks where large numbers of youth gathered to watch their favourite soccer stars in actions.  The three cities selected were Durban, Cape Town and Bloemfontein.

The activities used the KICK TB campaign soccer ball  which is partly funded by the USAID TB project to educate the community how to identify signs and symptoms of TB in an informal and fun manner.
  • 50 were donated to the Sports and Recreation Department in Atlantis for use in their holiday programme for in-school youths.
  • They were used during 5-a-side soccer tournaments.
  • The soccer balls were used in a TB quiz, whereby, people were given 1 minute to read through the soccer ball and then answer questions relating to the information on the ball.
  • They were used as prizes during Scrutinize and Brothers for Life activations in the community.


Popular comedian and Scrutinize ambassador Joey Rasdien  and Andile Ncube from SABC1 served as programme directors for the activities which included mini soccer, outdoor and indoor games, circle games and discussions about TB, HIV, teenage pregnancy amongst many others.

Annual Program Statement (APS)-Call for Applications
USAID Tuberculosis Program South Africa

Release Date: June 30, 2010
Proposals due: July 28, 2010, 16:00 Pretoria time

University Research Co., LLC (URC) currently implements a contract awarded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide technical assistance to the National TB Control Program (NTCP) in South Africa. The small grants program is an important element of the USAID TB PROGRAM SOUTH AFRICA designed to help increase the demand and availability of TB and TB/HIV services.

A Request for Applications (RFAs) to support the program has been issued to formally compete small grants and select grantees to implement interventions that strengthen DOTS including TB case detection, active case finding, follow up of TB cases, prevention and treatment of MDR TB, integration/expansion of TB into HIV services (implementation of 3Is), public-private mix (PPM) DOTS, improving access and quality of laboratory services and social mobilization in South Africa. URC assists the grantee organizations to develop and implement interventions to improve treatment adherence, continuum of care for TB patients and TB/HIV co-infected people. A major focus of this round of grants will be to develop and implement community-based strategies for treatment of MDR TB patients. However, URC will also accept proposals for expansion of universal TB case detection, TB treatment and support, diagnosis and treatment of TB among children, and TB-HIV integrated activities. The applications should link community-based strategies with the Department of Health (DOH) TB and MDR TB interventions.

Note: Applicants who are currently involved in health programs in the following districts/sub districts will receive priority in funding: KZN - Zululand, uThukela, UMgungundlovu, UGu, UMkhanyakude; NC – Siyanda; NW – Mafikeng, Matlosana; FS – Thabo Mofutsanyane, Fezile Dabi; EC – Nelson Mandela Metro; Mpumalanga – Nkangala, Gert Sibande. Applicants will also have to demonstrate their capacity in working with DOH/NTCP in achieving proposed program objectives. The proposals should focus on specific geographic areas (sub-district/district) that are critical to develop continuum of care for TB and MDR TB patients. URC will also accept proposals which will initiate TB infection control measures in health care facilities, in the community and in the homes of MDR TB patients. Offerors should prepare and submit their applications to URC-Pretoria office. URC will convene a Grants Selection Committee to evaluate and score the proposals on the basis of criteria that are stated in Section VIII of this RFA. Negotiations will be conducted with organizations that have acceptable technical and cost applications. Award of the grant will be made to the most advantageous offerer(s) considering technical and price elements.

NGOs that are currently receiving funding through the PEPFAR program for TB/HIV activities will not be eligible to receive funds through the URC mechanism.

The detailed Annual Program Statement document along with tender instructions is available on this web site (the USAID TB Program South Africa webportal). To download, CLICK HERE.

Applicants should email their proposals to Ms. Khensani Kubayi at KhensaniK@urc-sa.com and direct their questions to Dr. Ntombi Mhlongo Sigwebela, Email: NtombiM@urc-sa.com, Tel: +27(0) 12 342 1419 at the URC Pretoria office: 333 Grosvenor Street, Hatfield, PO Box 12058 Hatfield, Pretoria, 0028.

National Department of Health (NDoH) Minister Supports
School Programme to KICK TB Out of Communities

 By Sara Chitambo; additional reporting by Ramona Baijnath(NDoH)



   
Straight off a plane from Brazil, South African National Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi made time to attend the Kick TB campaign activation at Greenbury Primary School in Durban on the 2nd of June en route to the Second National TB conference.

Dr. Motsoaledi congratulated the children on taking ownership of the campaign and encouraged them to be change agents in their communities. Each school child pledged to be a TB ambassador and to tell five different people weekly about TB.

The Minister's involvement and support has not gone unappreciated. Echoing the sentiments of Dr Nono Simelela CEO of SANAC in her opening address at the start of the conference, the Chief Director of the National TB Cluster Mr David Mametja said “We have the rare opportunity to experience political leadership with a conscience and we must make the most of it”.

The school activations are a partnership between the National Department of Health, CDC, Desmond Tutu TB Centre and the USAID TB Project.

The Kick TB Campaign was launched on World TB Day with the first school activations taking place on May 26th in KwaZulu Natal to coincide with the National TB Conference. The school rollouts seek to combat TB as well as the stigma associated with it, by fusing sport, particularly soccer, and social mobilization to create a platform through which TB appropriate messages will be effectively conveyed. Linking the Kick TB campaign to the FIFA World Cup 2010 provides a perfect vehicle for conveying positive messages that would reach a maximal audience using popular sport.

The campaign seeks to roll out to 300 health promoting schools across South Africa. The campaign’s principal target will be primary school learners between the ages of 5 and 13 years. Approximately 115,000, learners drawn from diverse schools and backgrounds (gender, race, language, socio-economic status, disability status and geographic location (rural/urban), will be drawn to participate directly in the campaign. Special attention will be given to schools in the 18 priority districts identified by the Department of Health for accelerated interventions and TB hotspots (e.g.schools in mining areas and those in close proximity to hostels).

Messages of KICK TB Campaign

  • Encourage community members to know their status and get tested
  • TB can be cured
  • Be aware of TB symptoms
  • Open the windows and let fresh air to circulate
  • Wash your hands often with water and soap
  • Protect other people from getting infected by covering your mouth when you cough or sneeze
  • Taking medication daily and completing treatment
  • Co-infections with HIV and how TB can be cured regardless of HIV infections
  • Know the symptoms and go to the nearest clinic
  • Complete your treatment

Objectives and Anticipated Outcomes

The Kick TB 2010 campaign will significantly contribute to the vision that drives South Africa’s TB control and management programme, namely, a South Africa that is free of TB and the stigma that surrounds the disease. Specifically, the campaign will:

  • Increase awareness and knowledge of TB;
  • Dispel common myths and misconceptions that currently contribute to stigmatization of TB; and
  • Promote behavioural change required to prevent TB infection.

The key outcomes expected of this campaign are people adopting safer infection control practices, getting tested for TB and community empowerment through knowledge and understanding of TB.

     We Kick TB, We Beat TB, We Kick TB, We Beat TB, Because every breath counts!

South Africa: Response Fails Children

DURBAN, 2 June 2010 (IRIN/PlusNews) - The fight against tuberculosis (TB) has failed children: the share of paediatric TB is increasing, and children have not escaped the rising tide of drug-resistant strains, according to new research presented at the South African TB Conference.
  Photo: Kristy Siegfried/PlusNews
  Children account for 11 percent of the
  world's estimated nine million TB cases
Dr Ntombi Mhlongo-Sigwebela, TB programme director at the University Research Company, a public health consultancy, told the conference in the port city of Durban that TB in children under four years of age now accounted for about nine percent of all national TB cases annually.

Dr Kalpesh Rahevar, a World Health Organization (WHO) medical officer, said inconclusive conventional TB skin tests (to determine whether a patient has a latent TB infection) and the inability to get sputum samples from young children made paediatric TB more difficult to diagnose and treat than in adults.

"This highlights the challenge of diagnosing children, especially at the primary care level ... there are differing abilities to accurately diagnose TB; where there is a paediatrician who takes an interest in TB, you see a higher number of cases diagnosed," Mhlongo-Sigwebela told IRIN/PlusNews.

To make things worse, paediatric drug formulations and international treatment guidance for children were also inadequate, said Dr Ben Marais of University of Stellenbosch, in Western Cape Province.

"The WHO only produced guidelines this year on optimal isoniazid [a drug used to treat TB] dosing for children," he told IRIN/PlusNews. "I think this speaks to how poorly we've served children ... [it has been] more than 60 years since the discovery of the drugs [and only now do] we have an optimal [paediatric] dosing."

WHO has listed South Africa's TB epidemic among the world's worst, and research has indicated that about 70 percent of adult TB patients are co-infected with HIV.

Marais said the key to preventing paediatric TB infections was halting adult TB, improving infection control, and access to isoniazid preventive TB therapy.

2nd South Africa TB
Conference Was Held
1 through 4 June 2010

The 2nd South Africa Tuberculosis Conference 2010 focused on:

  • Creating an all inclusive opportunity for people to attend and participate in this national event dedicated to the fight against Tuberculosis
  • Building skills and knowledge
  • Networking and sharing of experiences
  • Increasing community participation
  • Raising the level of media awareness and helping to create a programme for the media
  • Helping to further build the South African TB programme by identifying challenges
  • Sharing best practices
  • Sharing the latest research and findings

The Conference was held at the International Convention Centre in Durban. This venue is ranked the leading conference centre in Africa. The City of Durban, destination for the South African TB Conference participant, offers world class service, allows you to ease effortlessly from business to pleasure, and is renowned for having staged some of the world’s most prestigious conferences. The Conference was attended by 2500 participants of whom many were from international destinations.

The Conference participants included:

  • Scientists researching TB
  • Medical Professionals
  • Officials from National, Provincial and Local Government departments
  • Representatives from NGO’s
  • Industry Specialists
  • Representatives of international organizations
  • Representatives of local and multinational corporations
  • Media representatives
  • Representatives of faith-based organizations
  • Representatives from the Private Sector

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This website is implemented by University Research Co., LLC, , in collaboration with BEA Enterprises, Inc. This web portal was produced through support provided by USAID through the South Africa Tuberculosis Program managed by University Research Co., LLC.

Page updated 9 July 2010