Your Worship, the Mayor of Ekurhuleni,
Honourable MEC for Health in Gauteng Province
Local Councillors
Head of the Department of Health, Gauteng Province
National and provincial departmental officials,
Members of the community of Tembisa

It gives me great pleasure to be with you in Tembisa today in the metropolitan municipality of Ekurhuleni. My visit is part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that government is brought closer to the people so that we can hear what your needs are, and also for you to hear the services that your government is able to make available to you.

I am here today to discuss with you a disease that is a big problem for many of our families and communities. This disease is Tuberculosis, or as many of us call it, TB. TB, alongside HIV and AIDS is a challenge for all of us to fight. Without your help, we in government cannot hope to eliminate it or ensure that our people who contract TB can get early treatment and be cured. This is one of the key partnerships, a partnership between individuals, families, communities and government that will enable us to rid our country of the many diseases and TB in particular.

STATISTICS South Africa (STATSSA), the governmental agency that collects information about many aspects of our lives, including the number of sick people we have, the number of people who die each year and the causes of death released a very important report a few weeks ago. In this report, STATSSA indicated that, for every 100 people who died in 2006, 13 of them died from TB. This makes TB the number ONE cause of death in our country.

Indeed, TB is the number ONE cause of death:

* in 8 out of our 9 provinces (it is the second cause of death only in the Free State);
* Among both men and women; and
* Among people in the 15 to 64 year age category (this group constitutes the economically active part of our population)

We do know that poverty is in the main responsible for most of our people being infected with TB. Without employment, families are unable to provide for themselves. They cannot prepare healthy food which in turn makes it difficult for their bodies to develop the required protection (immunity) against infections. Because of poor housing, especially in informal settlements and rural areas, with the related problem of overcrowding, transmission of the agents that cause TB from one person with TB to many others is easy.

As you know, our government has embarked on a long-term programme of economic and social development, which aims to reduce, and finally eliminate poverty through creating employment opportunities for our people. At the same time, there are many other forms of support that the government is already providing, including grants for pensioners, children and people with disabilities. In addition, primary health care services are free to all and anybody that cannot afford to pay for treatment at public hospitals are treated free of charge. These initiatives are aimed assisting the poorest of the poor in our communities.

However, even with the current levels of poverty, even if one lives in an informal settlement, even if one is unemployed, TB can be cured, especially if it is discovered very early and if a person with TB takes treatment and finishes his or her treatment. However, if we delay getting treatment and if we do not complete the full course of the treatment - which is 6 months - then one can both pass the disease onto others and not get cured. In fact if one does not complete treatment, a person can develop resistance to many TB drugs which will make treatment and cure more difficult.

For us to be able to be able to reverse the high levels of TB in South Africa, we need your help to do the following:

* We should practice good hygiene by covering our mouths when we cough or sneeze and avoid spitting on the ground - this is the easiest way to spread the disease as the bacilli (the germs that cause TB) travel through the air.
* We should all take responsibility for ensuring that we reduce the chances of anyone of us getting TB. Specifically, we should allow for the free flow of air in our homes, schools, workplaces and public transportation vehicles, especially taxis and buses by always opening windows as often as possible.
* We should also avoid smoking and using alcohol. We should keep healthy by eating properly, especially fruits and vegetables, and drink lots of water.,., We should exercise daily to keep our body healthy so that it can fight off infections.
* We should always look out for signs of TB which includes: coughing for more than 2 weeks, loosing weight and the desire to eat (appetite) and sweating at night. If anyone has any of these signs, they should go to the nearest clinic or hospital as quickly as possible to be examined by a nurse or doctor.

Remember that prevention is better than cure and that TB is curable.

Anyone who gets TB will receive treatment free of charge in any governmental clinic or hospital. However, it is important that once a person is put on treatment, they should take the medicines according to the directions provided by nurses and doctors that they are seeing. They should also finish all the medicines that they are given. This therefore requires a lot of responsibility from everyone affected, that is, patients, their families and friends and our health professionals.

We should support those who live among us who have TB, by being kind to them, and not discriminate against them. We should help them and remind them to take their TB medicines. We should also assist in caring for them if their sickness makes it difficult for them to take care of themselves. This is "Ubuntu" which we as Africans are well known for.

The Department of Health and our partners have been using DOTS supporters and defaulter tracers to help those with TB to remember to take their medication and to find those who have stopped taking medicines so that they can start again. I want to speak a little more about these supporters and tracers. These are members of our own communities, who receive training in order to help us care for people with TB so that they can regain their health. The supporters are there to remind and ensure that TB patients in the community (not hospitals) take their medicines according to the prescription of health professionals until they complete them.

Unfortunately, some of our patients stop treatment before they are cured. When this happens, it makes the TB problem, which is normally simple and easy to treat more difficult and complicated. This complicated type of TB is called drug resistant TB because the medicines we have cannot easily cure this form of TB.

It is therefore important that we avoid this cruel form of TB by remaining on treatment until we finish our medicines. When people stop taking treatment, they are called defaulters. Because of the problem of the complicated TB I just spoke about, it is important that such people are identified and located wherever they are so that they can be urged to return to treatment until they become healthy again. We rely on a group of community members to find such people. These defaulter tracers receive training on how to find TB people who no longer are taking their medicines and urge them to get back on treatment.

I urge you to always provide assistance to both our DOTS supporters and defaulter tracers as they are providing a service to our communities. .

The government will always try its best to provide services that are needed by our community members. However, many of our problems are very big, requiring more resources than we can ever have. But, with the participation and involvement by all of us individually and through the structures that exist in our communities, we can always overcome them. We call upon community structures and organizations to come forward and work with the Department of Health as we respond to problems such as TB. We should raise awareness on the dangers of TB that I have just outlined, using your own regular activities, including social gatherings such as weddings, parties, community meetings, and informal groupings in shopping centres and taxi ranks.

It is for this reason that the Department of Health, together with our partners from TB Free who, through their sponsors, Sanofi Aventis, have organized a number of roadshows that will be held in all of our 9 provinces until the 19th December 2008. This roadshow is the first and as a result, serves as a platform for me to launch this very important campaign. You will shortly receive additional information on TB, but in a manner that will entertain you. Listen to the messages carefully, and please feel free to ask questions on any matter that concerns you regarding TB after the show.

I have brought along several departmental officials from the province and the district as well to answer your questions and tell you more about TB. Feel free to approach them to find out how best we can support you so that you remain protected from TB, and if you should get it, how you can be assisted to get healthy again.

Remember TB can be cured!

I therefore formally launch the national TB roadshow campaign, here in Tembisa!

I thank you.