S.Africa alters AIDS plan after extreme TB threat
Pastor Dale Morgan
S.Africa alters AIDS plan after extreme TB threat*
15 Feb 2007 12:40:50 GMT
Source: Reuters
CAPE TOWN, Feb 15 (Reuters) - South Africa is overhauling its AIDS
strategy in a bid to counter the rise of extreme drug resistant
tuberculosis which is proving a serious threat to those suffering
HIV/AIDS, a senior official said on Thursday.
Extreme drug resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, has killed at least 183
people in South Africa since September. Most of the victims were already
HIV-positive and their immune systems severely weakened by the AIDS virus.
"One of the areas that we are working on is strengthening specifically
that aspect that deals with HIV/TB collaboration," said Nomonde Xundu,
the health department's chief director for HIV and tuberculosis (TB).
South Africa is suffering one of the world's worst HIV/AIDS crises, with
over 5 million of its 45 million population infected with the virus and
up to 1,000 people dying of AIDS-related illnesses each day.
XDR-TB, which is easily spread in poor areas where people live in close
quarters, threatens to compound the crisis as the new strain is immune
to almost all drugs now used to treat TB.
Health planners were looking at ways to deal with co-infection of TB and
HIV and improve TB screening ahead of the launch of a new AIDS strategy
in March, said Xundu.
Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang told a news conference that
drug-resistant mutations of the virus were emerging because TB patients
were failing to complete the required course of drug treatment.
"Our biggest challenge will still remain the same: to ensure that
patients complete the prolonged TB treatment," she said.
"Patients understand the need for hospitalisation, fortunately for all
of us, and none of the XDR patients have declined treatment after
appropriate counselling."
The government did not think measures such as the forcible isolation of
XDR-TB patients to prevent the spread of an outbreak was currently
necessary, she added.