90 years of TB, HIV care and treatment

NON-PROFIT organisation TB HIV Care celebrated its 90th anniversary with a charity auction which raised R88 350 for children hospitalised with TB at Brooklyn Chest Hospital.

The organisation was founded in 1929 to care for TB patients sent to Sanatoria, as well as their families left behind. The organisation has evolved to include HIV and is now dedicating to preventing and treating TB, HIV and other major diseases.

Chief executive Harry Hausler said that between April last year and March this year 4 258 adolescent girls and young women were supported and 1 435 sex workers started pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) – a pill which if taken daily prevents acquisition of HIV.

“TB HIV Care is the provincial support partner for the Eastern Cape, and as such has undertaken initiatives to overhaul clinic record keeping systems. This in turn, decreases waiting times for patients at the clinic, as well as identifying patients who require follow up care (resulting in some instances in a 40% increase of people receiving treatment), and improving the ability of clinics to keep them in care. The initiative has been rolled out in 35 facilities across three districts and will scale up the intervention to 70 more clinics in due course,” the organisation said.