The NGO Rural Health Advocacy Project has asserted that tuberculosis (TB) can be eradicated by 2030 through improved coordination and increased political focus.
This statement comes as over 600 TB activists from Gauteng prepare to march today, urging the government to declare TB a national health crisis. The activists plan to present a memorandum to the National Health Department in Tshwane.
Despite TB being preventable and treatable, it remains the leading cause of death in the country.
Huge TB vaccine trial starts in South Africa:
Director of the Advocacy Project, Russel Rensburg says, “Because it’s complicated it’s the reason that we need it to have political priority. What that means in practice though, is that it will translate into greater political focus at the national level where TB policy is made and for greater coordination between the National Department of Health and each of the provincial authorities that are responsible for the delivery of healthcare service.”
“At the moment that coordination doesn’t happen that well because each of us have this fiscal autonomy or favouritism, where each of the provinces kind of make their own plans. We are saying with greater coordination, greater political priority, yes we can end TB by 2030 but it needs an effort where the politicians place it at the highest priority,” Rensburg concluded.
TB Epidemic | New TB vaccines are needed:
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Rural health is important because it helps ensure that people in rural communities has access to quality healthcare, regardless of their location. #RuralHealthMatters pic.twitter.com/rP9dpoegjA
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