Yolisa: Kubalelwa ukuba yi-64% yoluntu kweliphondo oluhlala emaphandleni. UMEC Goqwana uthi oku kwenza nzima ngakumbi ukulwa esisifo sephepha’€¦.

MEC Goqwana: As you see we are rural ‘€“ irurality goes with ibeliefs ezithile. Kukhona abanye bethu oyakuthi ngoku umntu eneTB ‘€“ kuthwa ukhatywe yimpundulu. As a result it takes time before lomntu uba annyangwe. I’€™m very happy because now we’€™re now working with traditional healers who have actually come up and said xa umntu ephethwe yi-TB asizube sisithi makanyangwe impundulu, sakumsa koogqirha cause we might be wasting ixesha lalomntu.

Yolisa: Isifo seTB sitsintsitha ngakumbi kwindawo ezingenamanzi acocekileyo, iindawo ezingenazo iinkonzo zezempilo, nakubantu abangamahlwempu. UGqirha Mvusi oyimanejala yenkqubo yeTB kwilizwe lonke uthi’€¦

DR Mvusi: At times it becomes difficult for a person to take the treatment on an empty stomach if they have no food ‘€“ which is a reality out there, where a person just has nothing to eat and you expect them to take tablets.

Yolisa: uDr Mvusi uthi ngenxa yoku ‘€“ sele beqalile ukukubonelela uluntu oluhlwempukileyo.

DR Mvusi: We have ensured that, at least, every TB person gets food supplements as part of the care that they will be getting from all the clinics. So, they’€™re given food supplements, at least, to take something before or after they take those tablets.

And then, again in some areas they are linked to poverty alleviation projects’€¦ just for them to generate some income on which they can live on as well. And in some cases, those who are severely ill and cannot go back to work, those can access grants to ensure that, at least, they have something to buy food and enable them to live a healthy lifestyle.

Yolisa: Amakhaya ngamakhaya abantu abahlala emaphandleni kweliphondo laseMpuma Koloni ‘€“ awakangcamli koku.

Kunyanzelekile ukuba ufumane into etyiwayo phampi kokuba utye lamachiza esisifo.

Kukho nobungozi bokuba ‘€“ athi umntu sele eqalisile ukutya amayeza, awayeke phakathi. Oku kudala ukuba la mayeza angaphindi asebenze kakuhle apha emzimbeni wakho  ‘€“ nto leyo ibizwa ngokuba yi resistance.  

Umec Boqwana uthi abanye abantu babulawa kwangalamachiza okunyanga iTB ngenxa yezizathu ezithile.

MEC Goqwana:  andikhathali no ba ungubani na if woindlekile ‘€“ noba ubumper against ibacteria ye-TB iyakubakhona but your immune system will make it into ba ingaku affecti because uphilile. it can affect you nbut kodwa xa uphilile it won’€™t ‘€“ but iproblem esiyenzayo we give them itreatment babe bengenakutya and they actually die from icomplications zama yeza eTB.

Yolisa:  Iphondo lasempuma koloni lelona ligqutywa yindlala, kukuswela inqgesho ‘€“ nalelona linabantu abaninzi abangafundanga.

MEC Goqwana: Izigulo ezinintsi ozibonayo is the diarrhoeal diseases which occur kubantu aba malnourished, the TB which occur kubantu aba malnourished. All these diseases sinazo e-Eastern Cape zezi zenzeka kuba umntu upoor.

Yolisa: Kodwa lokwa Boqwana ukwathi ‘€“ likho icebo lokwenza ngcono izinto.

MEC Goqwana: ukwenza ngcono yonke lento ‘€“ we’€™ve got to do two things, we’€™ve got to make sure that people are aware that there’€™s something called TB and its curable. And having done that sithethe namagqirha uba xa bebona ukuba umntu uneTB bazazi isymptoms bamzise so that aqaliswe kwi treatment. Thirdlywe’€™ve got to make sure into ba itreatment is not the only thing that is important ‘€“ even inutrition is important and we’€™ve got not to talk about inutrition but we’€™ve got to address ipoverty.