The City of Johannesburg joins the rest of the world today to mark world TB Day and through its Department of Health, the municipality is running a series of webinars to discuss how to stop the spread of tuberculosis (TB).
World TB Day is observed on 24 March to commemorate the date when German physician and Nobel Laureate Robert Koch announced the discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis on 24 March 1882. According to the World Health Organisation, 360 000 South Africans contracted TB in 2019.
One of the areas discussed in the webinars is the prevention and management of the spread of TB between health care workers and their support staff.
Health workers are the pillar of a thriving society. They are constantly putting their own health at risk in order to help others. Nothing highlights this more than the Covid-19 pandemic, where everyday health care workers are on the frontline. According to Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize, over 339 state health workers died from Covid-19 related illness between March and November 2020.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has also demonstrated to us that increasingly we are being confronted by new strains of diseases which add to already existing health problems and further compound our response mechanisms,” said Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Health and Social Development in the City of Johannesburg Cllr Eunice Mgcina. Communicable diseases such as HIV/Aids and TB have also largely impacted the lives of health care workers who run the risk of contracting the diseases while on duty.
TB in particular is a highly infectious disease, which is among the top leading causes of death and a major cause of illness in the world. TB is a bacterial disease that mainly affects the lungs. Health workers are disproportionally affected by TB and have a six times fold greater incidence rate of hospitalisation for multi-drug-resistant TB.
“Joburg faces a huge burden of TB given the fluidity of the population dynamics in the city that are fuelled by migration patterns, not only from within the country, but the continent as a whole,” said Cllr Mgcina.
The spread of TB among health workers can be minimised by the correct use of personal protective equipment, hand hygiene, sterilisation/disinfection of medical devices and respiratory hygiene (cough etiquette).
Health workers who contract TB are also susceptible to discrimination, which can lead to workers not disclosing illness and discourage them from adopting healthy behaviours. Discrimination creates barriers for health care workers to access and use medical and psychosocial support services that are important for affected colleagues and can lead to anxiety and depression.
The City’s Health Department encourages all employees to be supportive of colleagues who are infected with TB, HIV/Aids or Covid-19. Creating a support environment goes a long way in ensuring that health care workers return to work timeously and in good spirits.