Health minister Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang has kicked off the New Year with the launch of a new plan aimed at tackling the unacceptably high tuberculosis (TB) rate in the country.

Announcing the details of the National Medium Term Development Plan in Standerton yesterday (January 9), Tshabalala-Msimang said it was “not simply another piece of planning on paper”.

“It is a practical implementation strategy that focuses on what we have learned in the past, and on our successes, in order to maximize those opportunities and help to do better.

“‘€¦we need to do more, much more to get a grip on this disease,” she said.

South Africa is in the midst of a serious TB epidemic with the country among the top 22 countries with the greatest burden of TB in the world. The situation is worsened by the fact that a person’€™s HIV positive status increases the incidence of TB. Currently 50% of all TB patients in this country are found to be HIV positive.

The minister said she believed that with this plan TB could be effectively controlled.

“We know what needs to be done and we know how to do it.”

The overall objectives of the plan are to reduce mortality, morbidity and transmission of TB, to reduce human suffering and the socio-economic impact of the disease, to establish optimal co-ordination with the HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection programmes and to prevent the development of drug resistant TB.

The plan goes further and sets specific targets that need to be achieved by 2005.

These include a cure rate of between 80 and 85% among smear positive TB cases detected, DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short course) coverage of all districts, to decrease interruption rates to less than 10%, to decrease transfer rates to less than five percent and to detect 70% of estimated new smear positive TB cases.

Tshabalala-Msimang said the health department aimed to achieve these objectives through a number of core interventions including the implementation of sector or area specific DOTS programmes, improving accessibility and efficiency of laboratory services as well as ensuring uninterrupted drug supply.

Other strategies mentioned by the minister included:

– to expand the current DOTS strategy so that all people with TB have access to effective diagnosis and treatment in all provinces;

– To adapt and expand this strategy to meet the emerging HIV/AIDS and TB epidemic;

– To strengthen the Stop TB Partnership so that proven TB control strategies are effectively applied;

– To encourage provinces to develop their province specific plans reflective of their circumstances and priorities;

– To improve the management of TB control in SA so as to raise cure rates and reduce treatment interruption.

Programme staff, including health department officials and representatives from USAID and the Royal Netherlands TB Association will be visiting all the provinces soon to provide technical assistance in adapting the plan. ‘€“ Health-e News Service