Declare TB public health emergency'

TUBERCULOSIS should be declared a public health emergency and "war rooms" need to be set up in each province to deal with the disease. In addition, President Jacob Zuma should report to the SA National Aids Council on the government's plan for dealing with TB and progress being made, the Treatment Action Campaign and Doctors Without Borders said yesterday ahead of a conference on TB in Durban today. The activists said drug-resistant TB was on the rise and only 40% of patients survived the deadly disease, for which there was a shortage of effective medicine. Children became infected in schools and there was a shortfall of more than R2-billion for the government to meet its 2016 target for reducing the spread of TB and HIV. They want doctors to also call for government action. – Katharine Child