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FMHS initiatives create awareness on World TB Day
Author: Wilma Stassen
Published: 29/03/2018

In the spirit of World TB Day, commemorate on 24 March, members of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) presented a number of outreach initiatives to create awareness of TB among staff, students and the wider community.​

Some 500 learners from the Worcester community were treated to an interactive exhibit titled 'TB Under the Spotlight' by FMHS tuberculosis researchers last week.

"This project aims to raise awareness about TB among learners, to educate them about TB and to help reduce the stigma surrounding TB," says Dr Michael Whitfield, a researcher with the DST/NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research and the SMRC Centre for Tuberculosis Research housed at the FMHS' Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics.

TB is a major problem in South Africa and it's to educate the youth so that they can go back into their communities and tell their friends and families what they've learned. In the process, we also hope to make them excited about science!" says Whitfield.

Learners from various local schools were bussed to the exhibit, housed at the Ukwanda Centre for Rural Health at Stellenbosch University's Worcester Campus. The exhibit consisted of four stations where learners engaged with props, games and animations teaching them about (1) the signs and symptoms of TB; (2) TB diagnosis; (3) patient treatment and outcomes; and (4) the science/research of TB. ​

“The idea is to make this as fun, creative and interactive as possible for the learners in order for them to get excited about the topic and learn more about TB,” said Whitfield. The initiative was undertaken in collaboration with the South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) and the Department of Anthropology at the University of Cape Town, as well as the Departments of Health and Education of the Western Cape.

Similar outreaches will take place in Robertson and Stellenbosch in April.

On the eve of World TB Day, the Molecular Biology Clinical Research Unit at the FMHS also undertook a TB awareness drive in Elsiesrivier and Adriaanse communities. The programme consisted of a motivational speaker, a drama session, a question and answer session and games for the children, followed by lunch. Free testing was offered to the community.

The Desmond Tutu TB Centre (DTTC) presented a lunchtime seminar for students and staff at the FMHS, during which the large burden of TB, the high risk of TB infection in healthcare workers, and new developments in paediatric TB were highlighted.

“Who cares for the carers? You and I who are in health care, are passionate about delivering good quality care and preventing TB. We don’t spend a lot of time thinking about our own health and the risk that we as healthcare workers face on a daily basis,” said Dr Angela Dramowski from the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health. She is an expert in infection control and prevention and a TB survivor herself.

“Ensuring that good TB infection prevention is in place ­– whether you work at a clinic or a hospital or a research centre – making sure that those things are in place as a standard of care is as important as any other work that we do,” she told the health sciences students, health care workers and other medical practitioners attending the World TB Day event at the Tygerberg Campus.​