SOUTH AFRICA / TUBERCULOSIS

Medical research and caregiving communities mobilize in South Africa to raise awareness about tuberculosis (TB) and to get people the medication they need. The country has the highest rate of TB infections in sub-Saharan Africa and the third highest in the world. STOP TB PARTNERSHIP

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:07:26
• Production Date: 27 March 2010
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO
• Subject Topical: DISEASE PREVENTION; DISEASE CONTROL; DISEASES
• Geographic Subject: SOUTH AFRICA
• MAMS Id: U100327a

Description

STORY: SOUTH AFRICA / TUBERCULOSIS
TRT: 7:26
SOURCE: STOP TB PARTNERSHIP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / XHOSA / NATS

DATELINE: MARCH 2010, WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA

Shotlist

1. Various shots, caregiver Mercy Nongongo preparing food for TB patients
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mercy Nongongo, Caregiver:
“They know that the work I’m doing is going to help them. They believe in me.”
3. Wide shot, Khayelitsha township
4. Wide shot, exterior of Khayelitsha community clinic
5. Close-up, sign directing to “TB room”
5. Various shots, patients at community clinic
6. Wide shot, nurse dispensing medicine to TB patient
7. Various shots, young TB patient with MDR-TB (multi-drug resistant) with doctor
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Sweetness Siwendu, Community Clinic, Khayelitsha:
“It would be really great if we could have a vaccine but if that’s not possible, then if we can diagnose TB as soon as possible…preferably within the same day, so that you come to the clinic in the morning and you could leave the clinic with a diagnosis.”
9. Various shots, NHLS pathology service laboratory
10. Various shots, South African Tuberculosis Vaccine Initiative (SATVI) at University of Cape Town
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sizulu Moyo, Clinical Researcher, SATVI:
“I think the prospects are good. There are a lot of players that have come in and there’s a lot of support from organizations such as WHO… I think that creates a good environment where people can work and make progress in getting together a new vaccine.”
12. Various shots, SATVI
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership:
“No-one today need die of TB. No child should see the life of a mother or father destroyed by a disease that is completely curable. We need to challenge governments, decision-makers and community leaders to stand together to fight TB and eventually wipe out this devastating disease.”
14. Various shots, Stop TB Ambassador Craig David playing soccer with children at Heideveld Secondary School
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Craig David, Stop TB Ambassador, Stop TB Partnership:
“For me it’s to make people recognize that this is happening in New York or London… you know people tend to think outside of South Africa, that it’s a million miles away. I want to make the awareness that it’s happening on your doorstep and that you guys have as much responsibility as the people in South Africa, as the people in London, to make a difference.”
16. Various shots, Gladys Jaxa, MDR-TB patient at home
17. Various shots, caregiver Mercy Nongongo visiting Gladys Jaxa
18. Various shots, Gladys taking medication
19. SOUNDBITE (Xhosa) Gladys Jaxa, MDR-TB Patient:
“Before the treatment I couldn’t even walk. I was hopeless. Now after treatment, I can even go to the toilet, I can go to the shop, I can do little things.”
20. Various shots, soup kitchen
21. Various shots, TB patients Khayelitsha township community clinic

Storyline

Caregiver, Mercy Nongongo runs a small soup kitchen from a tiny shack. She buys the soup ingredients with her own money and makes sure that tuberculosis patients have something to eat before taking their medicine.

SOUNDBITE (English) Mercy Nongongo, Caregiver:
“They know that the work I’m doing is going to help them. They believe in me.”

Tuberculosis has a firm grip on the township of Khayelitsha on the outskirts of Cape Town.

Patients at the community clinic say despite being sick, they are hopeful. The clinic has seen an increase in the number of people with multi-drug-resistant TB or MDR-TB.

This young man has been diagnosed with MDR-TB. It’s a virulent strain that can occur when a person with TB fails to complete the six to nine-month course of medication, causing the body to develop a resistance to the drugs - or catches TB from another person who is ill with a drug resistant-strain. The problem is that it often takes more than two months to diagnose MDR-TB.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Sweetness Siwendu, Community Clinic, Khayelitsha:
“It would be really great if we could have a vaccine but if that’s not possible, then if we can diagnose TB as soon as possible…preferably within the same day, so that you come to the clinic in the morning and you could leave the clinic with a diagnosis.”

On the other side of town, scientists are pushing ahead with a line test to help doctors like Sweetness Siwendu. The test cuts the time it takes to diagnose MDR-TB from 70 days to two days. Their work dovetails with research at the South African tuberculosis vaccine initiative, the largest TB testing site in the world. Here researchers believe they’re edging closer to developing vaccines that could prevent tuberculosis.

SOUNDBITE (English) Sizulu Moyo, Clinical Researcher, SATVI:
“I think the prospects are good. There are a lot of players that have come in and there’s a lot of support from organizations such as WHO… I think that creates a good environment where people can work and make progress in getting together a new vaccine.”

While researchers continue to work on vaccines, the key is to raise awareness around treating tuberculosis.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Marcos Espinal, Executive Secretary of the Stop TB Partnership:
“No-one today need die of TB. No child should see the life of a mother or father destroyed by a disease that is completely curable. We need to challenge governments, decision-makers and community leaders to stand together to fight TB and eventually wipe out this devastating disease.”

As a stop TB Ambassador, R&B artist, Craig David, is also spreading the message that tuberculosis is a global disease that can be successfully treated.

SOUNDBITE (English) Craig David, Stop TB Ambassador, Stop TB Partnership:
“For me it’s to make people recognize that this is happening in New York or London… you know people tend to think outside of South Africa, that it’s a million miles away. I want to make the awareness that it’s happening on your doorstep and that you guys have as much responsibility as the people in South Africa, as the people in London, to make a difference.”

Making that difference would help people like Gladys Jaxa, who has MDR-TB. She’s dependent on caregivers like Mercy who bring her medication. It’s vital that she completes the course of up to two years of pills and injections. If Gladys lapses, she could infect ten to fifteen people a year, one or two of whom may develop full blown TB or MDR-TB. But while the medication can be unpleasant, Gladys is already noticing the difference it makes.

SOUNDBITE (Xhosa) Gladys Jaxa, MDR-TB Patient:
“Before the treatment I couldn’t even walk. I was hopeless. Now after treatment, I can even go to the toilet, I can go to the shop, I can do little things.”

While researchers play a critical role, on the ground, Mercy Nongongo and her helpers are doing what they know best, pulling together for their people. They support each other and remain hopeful as they tackle the disease head-on.