The South African Department of Health has declared tuberculosis a top health priority and has implemented TB control programmes based on the DOTS strategy.

TB FREE is committed to:

• The efficient running of the established nine TB FREE centres (one in each province of South Africa), identification of community centers and the provision of mobile units to offer DOTS training
• Supporting the DOTS strategy by engaging full-time DOT trainers and a TB project manager in each TB FREE Centre
• Training DOT supporters
• Initiating tuberculosis education and awareness campaigns.

Accounting for over 80% of all notifiable diseases, tuberculosis is a major public health problem in South Africa. In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) ranked South Africa fourth among the world’s 22 high-burden TB countries. (Source: Global Tuberculosis Control: WHO Report 2008. 4,According to the South African Electronic TB register, there were 342, 315 TB cases in 2006, with an prevalence rate of 998 cases per 100,000 population (up from 558 in 2002). The 2005 South African cure rate is 57.6%. The number of TB cases in South Africa is likely to further increase over the next few years due to HIV/AIDS.

TB FREE wants to help solve the problem of this contagious yet controllable disease in South Africa. This requires facilities and an infrastructure that support the education and treatment of all those affected by the disease. Not only patients, but also their families and society as a whole need to be educated about the disease and the best ways to cure it. Patients need a support network that ensures not only the availability of treatment, but also proper administration and compliance. Families need to know how they can protect themselves against TB and how to get help for their sick. And society must understand that controlling TB is a community-wide effort. TB FREE is taking concrete and measurable steps in the battle to control and cure tuberculosis in South Africa and is engaged on several fronts.

Back to page overview?