Tuberculosis in South Africa (2)
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Dear Dieter,
Thank for your contribution to AFRO-NETS. I am aware that many
countries have put TB at the top of their health priority list, but I
rarely see evidence to justify the emphasis either from a country's
perspective or from the perspective of the top research institutions
in the field. As you state, the resurgence of TB is a consequence
most notably of "poverty, poor housing conditions, the inadequate
management systems, compounded by a legacy of fragmentation of the
health service and the consequences of the HIV- epidemic."
Unfortunately, much of the work being done to combat TB--such as that
being done by GTB at WHO--is aimed at drug development. To my
mind--but I am human rights lawyer, not a medical doctor--this
emphasis is wrong!! We need to concentrate on improving living
conditions, combating poverty and ensuring primary health care is
there for all. I hope, if SA is going to follow the euphoria of the
GTB publicity machine and jump on the TB bandwagon, they will at least
do so intelligently and put their money into combating the causes of
TB and not merely into DOTS research and development.
It would also be interesting to hear about this issue on the proposed
discussion list. The sooner people start being honest about how TB
should be combated the sooner the real battle can begin.
Regards,
Curtis
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Curtis F. Doebbler
mailto:C.F.DOEBBLER@lse.ac.uk
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