TheNewAge, 01 April 2014

The Department of Health yesterday signed a ground-breaking pledge with traditional leaders in a renewed effort to fight TB, HIV-Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases in the country.

The pledge was signed under the auspices of the South African National Aids Council (Sanac)in Centurion, outside Pretoria, and follows a renewed effort to stamp out TB and HIV-Aids especially in rural areas where traditional leaders still command respect and confidence among communities.

Traditional leaders form a significant part of Sanac which is driven from the office of Deputy President Kgalema Mothlanthe.

The signing of the pledge was also part of the start of the implementation of the National Strategic Plan which seeks to prevent new TB and HIV-Aids infections, mother to child transmission, prevent deaths and discrimination associated with the illnesses.

The traditional leaders came armed with a prevention strategy that included HIV-Aids testing,fight against discrimination and stigmatisation, initiation and medical male circumcision, fight against drug abuse and awareness campaigns. "HIV-Aids and TB confronts all of us and therefore we must intensify our fight against this pandemics. If not, our gains will be reversed and we have to act and we should act now," Inkosi PT Zulu said.

The pledge by traditional leaders reads in part: "We are committed to intensifying our role in the revitalised HCT campaign by providing leadership and information on the importance of the campaign to our people. We shall during the course of the campaign call upon our people to access the services provided by the Department of Health and their partners."

The pledge come after the recently held summit of ministers responsible for health, mining, labour and minerals in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) to find a common strategy to deal with TB in the region.

The summit which was held in Johannesburg came against the backdrop of the increase of TB cases among migrant workers who contracted the disease in mines in SA. After contracting the disease, the migrant workers were sent home to die.

The summit developed a common strategy to treat the disease in the SADC region.

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Source: TheNewAge