TB fight is a 'marathon'
05/04/2007 09:11  - (SA)  

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Extent of tough TB unknown XDR-TB claims 1 more in E Cape XDR-TB claims 1 more in E Cape 10 more affected with XDR-TB 10 more affected with XDR-TB TB patients ordered back to bed TB patients ordered back to bed Aids blamed for TB spread Aids blamed for TB spread WHO to help with XDR-TB WHO to help with XDR-TB

Johannesburg - The extent of multi-drug and extreme drug resistant strains of TB in South Africa was not currently known, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Wednesday.

"We know there are quite a lot of MDR and XDR TB, although we don't know the extent," said Dr Fabio Scano, a tuberculosis expert from the WHO.

Scano was in South Africa as part of a two-year collaboration with the government to provide technical support and advice in the fight against the disease.

"There are a lot of interventions under way but we have yet to see the results... the fight against TB is a marathon, not a sprint," he said.

There was much ignorance in other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries about the extent of the disease, said a health department official.

"South Africa so far is the only country (in the SADC region) that has the capacity and the capability to test for XDR TB," said the deputy director-general in the health department, Nthari Matsau.

Acting Health Minister Jeff Radebe said it was important for TB patients to stick to their treatment.

According to health department figures, 237 of 352 XDR TB patients identified so far have died.

- SAPA

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