Address by Deputy President of South Africa Kgalema Motlanthe at the World TB Day, Pollsmoor Management Centre, Cape Town

Address by Deputy President of South Africa Kgalema
Motlanthe at the World TB Day, Pollsmoor Management
Centre, Cape Town
24 March 2013

Programme Directors;
Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi;
Minister of Correctional Services, Sbu Ndebele;
Minister of Justice, Jeff Radebe;
Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille;
MEC of Health;
Mayor of Cape Town, Patricia De Lille;
Deputy Chairperson of SANAC, Steve Letsike;
The Goodwill Ambassador, Yvonne Chaka Chaka;
National Commissioner of Correctional Services, Tom Moyane;
Chairperson of Khayelitsha Development Forum, Michael Benu;
Xolani Khalipa:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am honoured once again to address the World TB Day. A year ago we convened in
Carltonville, Gauteng, for the self-same event.

A year later we are meeting here in Pollsmoor prison, one of the country’s largest
correctional facilities, for a number of reasons.

Our country faces a big challenge of HIV and TB,
with the highest number of people living with HIV.
We also have the third highest rate of TB infections in the world.

This is because TB is an opportunistic infection that thrives in the presence of a
weakened immune system— and in most cases, where the immune system is
weakened by HIV.

Reflecting this mutual dependence between HIV and TB, our national response to
HIV and AIDS pandemic is thus targeted at TB, especially because unlike HIV, TB is
curable.

As such through our country’s health programme, we have increased the allocation
of resources to expand access to HIV and TB related health services, and have
launched, and successfully implemented, the largest HIV counselling and testing
programme in the world.

Reaching out to all the people across the breadth and length of our country, these
interventions have contributed to some of the encouraging results we have seen so
far. These programmes are alive in rural villages, informal settlements, townships,
schools, mines, churches, etc.

In a manner of speaking we have left no facet of life untouched, which is why we
have today opted to join the correctional services’ communities to entrench the anti-
stigma message that HIV and TB do not discriminate and therefore, our responses
shouldn’t too.

As such our HIV and TB campaign and response is all-embracing and respects the
rights and dignity of all to have access to quality health services.

We have to fight this scourge together to attain the vision of zero new infections,
zero discrimination, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero new vertical transmissions.

Programme Director,

Today’s meeting allows us space to reflect on some of the positive milestone we
have reached so far.

We launched the National Strategic Plan in 2011, a plan which for the first time
targeted HIV and AIDS, TB and Sexually Transmitted diseases, together.

This New Strategic Plan, which sets out a 20 year vision, seeks to bring together all
government programmes in a consolidated, all-out assault on the social
determinants that create health hazards.

This is because we have through the National Strategic Plan process identified
“populations at risk” of infection from TB and HIV, among these are close contact
communities such mine and prisons.

As such we are ensuring that:

• All mine workers, particularly in the gold mining sector, are screened and tested
for TB and HIV over the next 12 months;
• We equip mine health facilities with GeneXpert technology to ensure rapid testing
for TB;
• We upgrade some of the existing health facilities at mines to provide treatment
and care for Multidrug resistant and extremely multidrug resistant TB;
• We open mine health facilities to provide care and treatment to peripheral mining
communities where access to health care is limited.

Now that we understand the epidemics facing our country much more, our
interventions are targeted at HIV and TB key populations, including children, mine
workers, migrants, among others.

As such we have a rolling programme to take care of each of these key populations
according to their needs. Our National Strategic Plan has integrated these responses.

Correctional facilities are our focal nodes this year given the number of TB
infections.

We are thus putting plans in place to tackle this problem by amongst other
measures, instituting a seamless system of continuous service from when offenders
enter correctional facilities through to their release after correction.

This requires improvement in the screening and testing of inmates upon arrival and
at least twice a year during their incarceration.

Those due for release will also be screened and tested and referred to health
facilities in their communities for continued care and management.

It is important that there should be no weak links in this chain of health care
management, and that closer co-operation between the departments of health and
correctional services and other role players, including communities and civil society
organizations, is therefore critical.

Programme Director;

I am informed that the Department of Health, working together with Correctional
Services, has created multi-stakeholder structures that foster co-operation among
governmental and non-governmental entities.

From these efforts, a set of guidelines, specifically addressing the management of
TB, HIV and AIDS and STIs in correctional facilities has been compiled.

These guidelines will assist health workers to provide the standard of care that is
consistent with what is in the public sector, thus making it easier for patients to
continue treatment once they are released.

This will significantly shift the burden of care from families and will improve the
quality of life.

Important amongst these interventions is the use of the GeneXpert technology we
launched in 2011, which is a technology that diagnoses TB much faster (in no more
than 2 hours) compared to several days or weeks using old methods.

We are prioritising the roll-out of these machines in correctional facilities, mining and
other congregate areas with elevated risks of infection.

Through partnership between government, development partners, civil society and
other stakeholders, a GeneXpert machine was installed here at the Pollsmoor
Correctional Facility three weeks ago.

Today, we are handing over 6 additional GeneXpert machines to the Department of
Correctional Services; these will be distributed among the 6 correctional services
regions.

We will improve our capacity to intensify our case finding. Early diagnosis means
early enrolment onto treatment programmes and a reduction in chances of infecting
others thus significantly improving the overall performance of our TB Control
Programme and our National Strategic Plan.

Programme Director

Lastly, let me once again emphasis our confidence in the benefits of GeneXpert as a
valuable technology to improve the health of the people in correctional facilities.

We do this because our country believes in a correctional service— a service that
envisions the return of rehabilitated offenders to society as healthy and responsible
community members.

I would like to acknowledge the contributions of all our development partners in this
mammoth task of achieving our collective vision of:

•   Zero   new infections due to HIV and TB;
•   Zero   deaths associated with HIV and TB;
•   Zero   transmission of HIV from mother-to-child;
•   Zero   stigma related to HIV and AIDS.

To this end, we should consistently encourage all South Africans to make it second
nature to continue testing annually so that they may be treated early in the event of
testing positive.

With all the hard work and our collective contribution, the vision is attainable - let us
achieve it together.

I thank you.