The rate of serious adverse events resulting in unintended harm to patients is disturbingly high in Gauteng public hospitals. Thabo Molelekwa spoke to health activists and government to find out what is causing these risky events and what is being done to curb them.
Unless society acts decisively, AIDS and Covid-19 could be with us for years to come; indeed, they will probably still be around when the next big pandemic comes.
Let’s be clear, the problem is the food system, not a shortage of food. This is not the belief of an angry anti-capitalist, but of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and well-informed people who work within the food system.
Chest x-ray for diagnosing TB. (Credit: Damien Schumann)
The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has found tuberculosis (TB) prevention efforts in the province to be lacking with patients paying the price.
“We have conducted TB surveys in health facilities, we wanted to check whether the preventions of TB is effective in different areas, so our finding in local facilities we have found that most of the facilities are very poor when it comes to TB prevention,” said Daniel Mathebula, who is the provincial trainer for TAC in Limpopo.
TB is an airborne illness and adequate prevention includes having well ventilated spaces and the use of ultraviolet lights that can kill the bacteria. High risk groups such as people with uncontrolled HIV and children under five living with someone with TB are also supposed to be offered a course of medicine to prevent TB.