If we do not behave like TB is a global health emergency, we will continue to experience unacceptable suffering from a disease that has killed more than 20 million people in this century alone
After various delays and setbacks, a new and less toxic short-course TB prevention therapy is finally being launched in six districts in South Africa – with training of healthcare workers already underway.
The new three-month treatment course, called 3HP, will initially only be provided to eligible people at risk of TB in the Oliver Tambo District in the Eastern Cape, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni in Gauteng, eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal, Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga and Cape Town in the Western Cape. The phased roll-out will be scaled up to include 23 districts before the end of next year.
While South Africa has done better than most countries in recent years in providing preventive therapy, the country continues to have some of the highest TB rates in the world. This is something it is hoped 3HP could help address.
After various delays and setbacks, new, less toxic, short-course tuberculosis (TB) prevention therapy is finally being launched in six districts in South Africa – with training of healthcare workers already underway.
The new three-month treatment course, called 3HP, will initially only be provided to eligible people at risk of TB in the Oliver Tambo District in the Eastern Cape, Johannesburg, and Ekurhuleni in Gauteng, eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal, Ehlanzeni in Mpumalanga and Cape Town in the Western Cape. The phased rollout will be scaled up to include a total of 23 districts before the end of 2022.
While South Africa has done better than most countries in recent years in providing TB preventive therapy, the country continues to have some of the highest TB rates in the world. This is something it is hoped 3HP could help address.