West Africa Doctors Network News Portal

The Gauteng Department of Health is to roll out a Tuberculosis (TB) Crisis Plan to identified districts in the province in an effort to intensify the TB campaign to eradicate the disease.

GOVERNMENT will soon introduce a new drug for HIV and Aids patients to protect them from contracting tuberculosis.

Prevention remains a major challenge for those who develop and implement programs to fight HIV/AIDS worldwide, according to attendees of the 2008 HIV/AIDS Implementers’ Meeting held June 3-7 in Uganda.

People in low-resource countries who are ill with multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) will get a faster diagnosis -- in two days, not the standard two to three months -- and appropriate treatment thanks to two new initiatives unveiled by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Stop TB Partnership, UNITAID and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND).

Mobilising communities into action is the best weapon to fight Tuberculosis (TB), says KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Finance and Economic Development, Dr Zweli Mkhize.

Government has successfully been able to manage and treat more Tuberculosis (TB) patients in "crisis" areas such as Johannesburg, with the Department of Health reporting an increase in the TB cure rate.

ZIMBABWE has already submitted a US$500 million application to fight HIV and Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria to the Global Fund under round 8.

The Tuberculosis (TB) awareness programme at the Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town seems to be yielding positive results.

Faith Based Organisations have been challenged to open their doors and take part in TB and HIV campaigns to prevent the spread of the diseases and offer support to infected people and their families.

The private sector has been challenged to work in partnership with government to help fight Tuberculosis (TB) in the workplace.

Government is seeing the fruits of the various programmes it has in place to manage patients who default on their Tuberculosis (TB) treatment.

Poverty is among the main reasons for the high treatment defaulter rate among Tuberculosis (TB) patients.

A newly launched Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis tool is to help the country's health system to be able to diagnose drug resistant TB within seven days compared to the one currently used, which takes several months.

A MONTH after Health Minister Dr Richard Kamwi officially announced the presence of the deadly extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in Namibia, the country has yet to start treating the first eight cases.

Nearly 1,200 cases of tuberculosis were detected in Kaduna State in the first quarter of 2008. The patients have however been placed under directly observed short course treatment (DOTS), according to Commissioner for Health.

LAST Monday, for the first-time, the Government, public health and business leaders, heads of United Nations agencies and advocates met at the UN headquarters to acknowledge HIV/TB as an urgent priority.

The first Forum of Global Leaders for HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis has reiterated the need to speed up large scale combination of activities to control both pandemics, given the increasing link between the two in recent years.

TB/HIV infection control activities in Uganda are poor or non-existent, a joint research by the International Union against TB and the health ministry has said, reports Barbara Among.

THE Global Fund is to launch Round 9 funding for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria in October, according to an announcement by the fund made on Wednesday.

Traditional medicine and home care foundation, an N.G.O based in Brufut Ghana Town, held a day workshop on sensitisation of Malaria and TB prevention, for the communities of Brufut, Tujereng and Ghana town.