Precious Breaths
July 2003 – 25’00”
VISUALS: BENECHIA JAFTHA (3) IN HOSPITAL; DOC EXAMINES HER TAPE 2: 02:58:09 AND TAPE 3:03:00:44
Benechia Jaftha is in a critical condition.
Tuberculosis has damaged her brain.
She’s suffering from the most dangerous form of the disease.
At only three, she’s had a serious operation.
Doctors inserted a pipe to drain fluid from her brain.
It can never be removed.
TB has blocked off her brain’s drainage path permanently.
It’s unlikely that Benechia will ever fully recover.
UPSOUND: PROFESSOR JOHAN SCHOEMAN/TYGERBERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CLIP 1
TAPE 3: 03:25:41 SHE CAME IN TOO LATE. ONCE A CHILD IS SLEEPY, OR HAS A DEPRESSED LEVEL OF CONSIOUSNESS, AND SIGNS OF A MOTOR FALL OUT, LIKE THIS CHILD HAS GOT; YOU COULD SEE THE CHILD COULDN’T OPEN THE ONE EYE, AND WAS VERY SLEEPY. ONCE THAT HAPPENS, THEN THE OUTCOME ALREADY BECOMES WORSE. AND THE CHANCES OF COMPLETELY RECOVERY IS NOT GOOD.
VISUALS: BENECHIA (TIME CODES ABOVE) AND OTHER CHILDREN IN THE HOSPITAL TAPE (TAPE 3: 03:42:13)
Few children survive this with a normal level of intelligence.
For the rest of their lives, they suffer serious learning difficulties and behaviour problems.
All because they were diagnosed at too late a stage with TB – a completely curable disease.
TITLE:
VISUALS: UITSIG, WESTERN CAPE TAPE 5: 05:36:55
Uitsig at Bellville in the Western Cape.
It’s a community with one of the highest TB infection rates in the world.
In Africa, only Ethiopia and Nigera have higher TB rates than South Africa.
VISUALS: TYGERBERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL INSIDE WARDS TAPE 3: 03:43:13
Just across the road from Uitsig, is Tygerberg Children’s Hospital.
It’s into these wards that youngsters are admitted daily with one of the rarest and most dangerous forms of TB.
TB of the brain, also known as TB meningitis.
UPSOUND: PROFESSOR JOHAN SCHOEMAN/TYBERGERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CLIP 2
TAPE 03:38:32 AT THIS MOMENT IT IS MOST COMMON TYPE OF MENINGITIS SEEN AT TYGERBERG HOSPITAL. AND IF YOU WOULD TELL THIS TO ANYBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD, THEY WOULDN’T BELIEVE YOU, BECAUSE MANY PEOPLE OR DOCTORS IN FIRST WORLD COUNTRIES HAVEN’T SEEN
A SINGLE CASE OR PERHAPS ONE CASE IN THEIR LIVES.
VISUALS: WARD TAPE 3: 03:43:13 AND BENECIA 02:58:09 AND TAPE 3:03:00:44
It’s difficult to know when a child has TB meningitis.
Young children like Benechia’s are most vulnerable.
They’re too small to alert their parents to symptoms such as headaches.
In South Africa almost everyone has been in contact with someone who’s got TB.
So simple skin tests that have always been used have become unreliable.
UPSOUND: DR NEIL SELLER/TYGERBERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CLIP 3
03:08:32 THE SKIN TEST THAT WE DO USE FOR DIAGNOSIS OF TB IN CHILDREN IS ONLY A WAY OF SHOWING THAT SOMEONE HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO TB, AND NOT NECESSARILY SICK. AND THE FACT IS THAT WE ALL MIGHT HAVE POSITIVE SKIN TESTS FOR TB, BUT IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE’RE SICK.
VISUALS: ADULT WARD AT YSTERPLAAT TAPE 2: 02:50:56
Kids get sick from adults.
Grown-ups get TB in their lungs and spread it when they cough.
The TB germ destroys the lungs and harms other vital organs, like the brain.
It’s incredibly dangerous to children...even if they’ve been immunised at birth...as all children are.
What makes the situation even worse, is that most adults aren’t aware that they’ve got TB.
VISUALS: BENECIA JAFTHA 02:58:09 AND TAPE 3:03:00:44
Benechia Jaftha’s mother had no idea.
UPSOUND: DR NEIL SELLER/TYGERBERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CLIP 4
TAPE 3:13:21 THIS IS A TYPICAL CASE WHERE WE’VE GOT A FAMILY MEMBER OF THE PATIENT THAT HAS TB. IN THIS CASE IT’S THE MOTHER OF THE PATIENT AND SHE MOST PROBABLY GAVE HER CHILD TB. WE DIAGNOSED HERE WITH TB; SHE DID NOT KNOW, BUT SHE HAD THE SYMPTOMS OF TB; SHE WAS COUGHING, LOSING WEIGHT, HAVING NIGHT SWEATS, BUT SHE HAD NOT KNOW THAT SHE HAD TB.
VISUALS: ANASTASIA JAFTHA AT HOME IN VILLIERSDORP HANGING UP CLOTHES ON LINE TAPE 5: 05:10:07
Doctors first told Anasthasia Jaftha her daughter had gastro.
But the medication didn’t work.
And then she noticed strange symtoms.
UPSOUND: ANASTASIA JAFTHA/MOTHER AND TB SUFFERER
CLIP 7
TAPE 5:05:26:10 DIE DONDERDAG NAMIDDAG TOE VIND EK UIT, MAAR MY KIND BEGINNE RAAK LAM, EN DIE KWYL LOOP BY HAAR MOND UIT. TOE HET EK PROBEER OM MY MORS IN HAAR MOND TE STEEK; SY’T NOT BORS GEDRINK, EN DIE BORS HET OOK VANSELF UITGEVAL UIT HAAR MOND UIT. EN, EN SY’T BEGIN AMPER SO STYF RAAK, EN EK HET DIE SUSTER GEVRA WAT IS NOU FOUT MET MY KIND…DIE DOKTER HE GESE DAT HY GAAN VAN HAAR RUGMURG TREK OM TE KYK OF SY NIE MENINGITIS HET NIE…05:27:06 DIE MAANDAG HET EK HAAR GEVAT VIR DIE KOPSCAN. …DIE DINSDAG HET HULLE MY GESTUUR NA TYGERBERG TOE. HULLE’T MY GESE DAT SY TB MENINGITIS HET.
Benechia’s mother was so infectious, that she had to be sent home.
She was a danger to the other children in the hospital ward.
She works on an apple farm in Villiersdorp in the Overberg.
But now she’s a danger to her family and colleagues.
Due to an administrative error, she hasn’t obtained TB drugs yet.
She’s still highly contagious.
If she doesn’t start taking medicine soon, she’ll infect up to fifteen other workers this year.
Her partner, Benechia’s father, is most at risk.
UPSOUND: ANASTASIA JAFTHA/MOTHER AND TB SUFFERER
CLIP 6
TAPE 5: 05:34:37 DIT IS DIE PUNT. EK IS BANG DAT EK VIR HULLE SAL AANSTEEK. DIS HOEKOM EK VIR HOM GESE HET HY MOET OOK TOETSE GAAN NEEM, VAN SY, SY SPEEEKSEL EN NOU SY BORS…coughing…
VISUALS: ANASTASIA AT HOME – HANGING UP CLOTHES TAPE 5: 05:10:07
VISUALS: BENECHIA AT HOSPITAL OR PICTURES AT HOME.
Benechia is likely to live with the after effects of TB meningitis forever.
Because she was diagnosed too late.
UPSOUND: PROF JOHAN SCHOEMAN/TYGERBERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CLIP 5
TAPE 3: 03:24:26 WE RECENTLY DID A LONG TERM FOLLOW UP STUDY OF TB MENINGITIS AT HOUR HOSPITAL, AND WE FOUND THAT THE MAJOR LONG–TERM CONSEQUENCE OF THIS DISEASE HAS TO DO WITH INTELLIGENCE AND BEHAVIOUR. 03:24:40 ONLY TWENTY PERCENT OF CHILDREN WHO HAD THIS DISEASE, HAD A NORMAL INTELLIGENCE. MOST OF THE CHILDREN HAD SERIOUS LEARNING PROBLEMS, AND UP TO HALF OF THE CHILDREN HAD SERIOUS BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS. ABOUT TWENTY FIVE OR A QUARTER OF THE CHILDREN, ALSO HAD MOTOR HANDICAPS, IN OTHER WORDS, THEY HAD WEAKNESS ON THE ONE SIDE OF THE BODY.
VISUALS: BENECHIA’S FAMILY GOING THROUGH PICTURES OF HER TAPE 5: 05:15:02
Benechia will be separated from her family for at least 7 months. She will stay in Tygerberg Hospital for a month.
Then, she’ll spend half a year in a TB hospital.
Tubercolosis treatment takes a long time, and the pills have serious side effects.
They make children feel nauseous and weak.
If youngsters are kept at home, they almost never complete their treatment.
BRIDGE: SONG OF BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL TAPE 1: 01:32:45 – 01:36:18
Brooklyn Chest Hospital in Ysterplaat, Cape Town, is for kids with TB.
They live here for a minimum of 6 months.
It’s a whole new way of life.
They go to school inside the hospital…and take up to 10 tablets every day.
We’re here at Brooklyn Chest, the TB hospital
Here we get better soon, and fat and round…
We want to tell you that you’ll stay here for 6 months
Take your medicine and eat good food, go exercise
Then you’ll get better quickly…
VISUALS: TAPE 1 01:32:40 SCHOOL SHOTS – TEACHER WITH JACO AT HIS DESK
Some have to stay longer than others.
Like Jaco Joseph.
He’s got a form of lung TB for which normal drugs don’t work.
It’s twenty times more expensive to treat.
His mother and grandmother both died of TB.
Because his mother did not complete her treatment, she got multi drug resistant TB.
And she passed that form of Tuberculosis on to Jaco.
UPSOUND: JACO JOSEPH (14)/TB PATIENT, BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 1
01:39:02 DIS DIE BESTE AS JY JOU PILLE DRINK. EN DIE WAT NIE HULLE PILLE DRINK NIE, HULLE SAL DOODGAAN. DIS DIE BESTE OM DIE PILLE TE DRINK. 01:39:14 starts crying EK IS SO HARTSEER. 01:39:26 Waaroor is jy hartseer, Jaco? TAPE 1: 01:39:26 MY MA MOET HAAR PILLE GEVAT, NOU IS DIT, NOU’S DIT DEUR HAAR WAT EK OOK SIEK IS. EN EK VOEL NIE LEKKER NIE.
Jaco has to stay at Brooklyn Chest Hospital for eight months.
He arrived with chest pains, night sweats and was coughing up phlegm.
He was also severely underweight.
UPSOUND: JACO JOSEPH (14)/TB PATIENT, BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 3
01:45:15 EK WAS, EK KAN NIE GELOOP HET NIE, BAIE KORT ASEM. EK KAN NET HIERVAN UIT DIE HUIS UIT LOOP TOILET TOE. AS EK IN DIE TOILET KOM, DAN'S EK BAIE MOEG, BAIE BAIE MOED, SOOS EEN WAT NOU HONDERD METER GEHARDLOOP HET.
Every morning, Jaco and his classmates have to queue for a large assortment of TB pills, which have many side effects.
UPSOUND: SISTER LYDIA SMITH/BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 7
TAPE 2: 02:33:28 HERE ARE THE TABLETS THAT CAUSES THE RED IN THE URINE, THERE ARE JUST AN IRON TABLET; IF THE CHILD IS ANEMIC, PERHAPS, AND THIS IS JUST THE DAILY DOSAGE FOR THE IRON BECAUSE SOME OF THESE TABLET BREAK IRON UP, AND THEN THE CHILDREN CAN BECOME ANEMIC AFTERWARDS, EVEN IF THEY’VE NEVER BEEN. 02:33:47 THESE ARE THE ONES THAT HAS GOT THE SMELL, YOU CAN SMELL THEM. AND THIS IS THE ONE THAT THE CHILDREN DON’T LIKE A LOT; IT CAUSES A LOT OF VOMITING TOO FOR THEM. AND THERE ARE THE GREY ONES THAT WE ALSO GIVE FOR THEM, IF THEY CAN’T TOLERATE THESE YELLOW ONES, DOCTOR SOMETIMES GIVE THEM THESE ONES.
It’s difficult for even highly experienced nurses to make these children take their tablets for an entire six months.
That’s why most kids have to stay at hospital, and not at home.
UPSOUND: SISTER LYDIA SMITH/BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 16
02:21:50 THERE’S SUCH A LOT OF PROBLEMS AT THE BEGINNING. 02:22:00 ESPECIALLY IS IT’S A NEW TB CASE, THEY…DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS, TO TAKE ALL THESE TABLETS. MAYBE AT HOME THEY WILL HAVE TWO TABLETS, FOR A HEADACHE, OR ONE TABLET, BUT IMAGINE TB TALETS. YOU MUST TAKE ALMOST A HANDFUL, AND THOUGH WE SAY IT’S LIKE SMARTIES, IT DOESN’T TASTE LIKE SMARTIES. IT DOESN’T SMELL LIKE SMARTIES. (SO YOU’LL HAVE TO COME UP WITH MEANS TO CONVINCE THEM OF TAKING THEIR TABLETS.
The most dangerous thing children can do is to stop taking their TB tablets when they start to feel better.
If they do, they’ll develop multi–drug resistant TB, the form Jaco’s mother has passed on to him.
Few drugs can fight it.
UPSOUND: JACO JOSEPH/TB PATIENT (14) BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 4
TAPE 1:41:01 EK SE AANMEKAAR VIR DIE KINDERS, WANNEER, TOE SE EK NOU DIE DAG IR JUFFROU OOK, DAAR BY DIE STOEP, EK VOEL AL OF EK GESOND IS, EK KAN AL HUIS TOE GAAN, MAAR TOE SE JUFFROU VIR MY: ‘DIT VOEL VIR JOU SO, JACO, MAAR JY’S NOG NIE HEELTEMAAL GESOND NIE. JY MOET NOG EERS JOU PILLE VAT EN TOT WANNEER HULLE SIEN, MAAR JY’S NOU AL GESOND, EN DAN KAN JY REGTIG HUIS TOE GAAN.
Some children here also have TB of the brain…
They have intense memory problems.
They often don’t remember the previous day’s school work.
Pills also sometimes make children very tired.
UPSOUND: MS HELENA LE ROUX/TEACHER/BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 17
TAPE 1: 02:01:26 SOMETIMES THEY ARE SLEEPY AFTER THE PILLS. BUT THE BIGGER ONES, NO, THEY ARE FINE. SOMETIMES THE LITTLE ONES, LAYDOWN HERE ON THE MAT, AND THEN THEY SLEEP FOR A LONG WHILE, IN THE MORNINGS.
Most of the children attending this school, come from poor families.
TB is often called a disease of poverty.
So, for many children, the TB school is better than the schools they’re used to.
The hospital has found that since it began teaching patients, they heal at a much quicker rate.
UPSOUND: JACO JOSEPH (14)/TB PATIENT/BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 5
TAPE 1: 01:44:23 DIS ’N BAIE BETERE SKOOL, WANT JY BETAAL NIE SKOOLFONDS HIER, JY KRY ALLES VERNIET, JY KRY EETGOETERTJIES VERNIET. EN DIE WERK WAT JY DOEN IS SO INTERESSANT…JY WERK SO LEKKER WANT JY DINK JY WERK BY DIE HUIS, WANT AS JY GESOND RAAK, JY VOEL NIE JY RAAK GESOND, SO LEKKER WERK JY.
Jaco was twelve when his mother died.
His little brother was three months old.
He now wants to get better and go home…to tell his brother who his mother was…
UPSOUND: JACO JOSEPH (14)/TB PATIENT/BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 6
TAPE 1:49:07 EK WIL BY HOM WEES WAT EK HOM KAN VERDUIDELIK WIE’S SY MA EN MY MA….HY BLY BY AUNT SOPHIE–HULLE EN BY OOM JOHN. SY NAAM IS DIMITRI ALEXANDER JOSEPH…AS EK BY DIE HUIS KOM, DAN WIL EK VIR HULLE SE, HULLE MOET IR HOM OOK OP ’N TOETS VAT OM TE KYK, SOOS HY MISKIEN GROOT RAAK, SAL HY OOK MY MA SE SIEKTE AF.
Jaco won’t see home for another five months.
Like everyone here, Jaco first has to complete his TB drugs.
They’re not easy to take.
But they’re very effective, and will cure him completely.
PART TWO (AFTER AD BREAK)
RIVER, CEMETARY
In South Africa, TB rates are more than double those in other developing countries.
The township of Sakhile is outside Standerton, in southern Mpumalanga.
It’s one of the only communities in the country to have found a plan that’s working in the battle against Tuberculosis.
But it hasn’t been easy.
Two years ago, almost no one finished their TB treatment.
Residents here died young.
Needless deaths, because TB can be cured completely.
Traditional healers are the first port of call for the residents of Sakhile.
Hundreds of healers practice around here.
Fannie Simelane has TB for the third time.
UPS FANNIE SIMELANE: I GOT SWEATS AT NIGHT AND LOST MY WEIGHT…LOSING APPETITE AND ALL THOSE THINGS…
The clinic gave TB pills to Fannie for free.
Yet twice before, he simply stopped taking his medicine.
So every time, he got sick again.
No one helped Fannie to understand that TB treatment takes 6 months…
His traditional healer and the hospital that treated him, sent him very mixed messages…
UPS MOSES VEZI: WE WERE SEPARATELY…THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT WAS THAT SIDE. THE TRADITIONAL HEALERS ONE SIDE. AND THEN, IF THE PATIENT GO TO THE HOSPITAL OR CLINIC, THEY TELL THEM THAT YOU MUSN’T GO TO THE TRADITIONAL HEALERS… IF THE PATIENT COME TO US WE SAID YOU MUSN’T GO TO THE HOSPITAL, OR YOU MUSN’T GO TO THE CLINIC, BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING…IT WAS LIKE THAT BEFORE...
And Fannie wasn’t the only one who was confused.
His community didn’t know who to trust.
What complicated things further, was the impact of AIDS on Tuberculosis.
HIV fuels the TB epidemic: two thirds of TB sufferers also have HIV.
Those in Sakhile started believing that TB, like Aids, couldn’t be cured.
UPS MPILA
THE TB WAS TAKEN AS SOMETHING INCURABLE. THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE, DYING OF TB. AND PEOPLE SINCE THE HIV,UH, TOPIC HAS COME INTO, DISCUSSION, AND HAS BEEN THE COMMON THING TO TALK ABOUT, PEOPLE NOW WHO WERE DYING AS IF TB COULDN’T BE CURED…
Nyangesiswe Mpila realised his people would pay the price unless he and his colleagues took immediate action.
UPS MPILA: WE DECIDED NOW TO STAND UP AND TALK TO OUR PEOPLE AND TRY TO MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND THAT TAKING THIS MEDICATION, TB MEDICATION, WILL SAVE THEIR LIVES. IF YOU TAKE TB MEDICATION, YOU ARE GOING TO BE CURED, THROUGH YOU HAVE AN HIV VIRUS…
Two years ago, Mpila realised Standerton Hospital could help him to save his patients from TB.
Help came in the form of Riensie Vellema.
UPS RIENSIE VELLEMA: HY’T DADELIK GESÊ DAAR’S ‘N GROOT LEEMTE…HULLE MENSE GAAN DOOD…MAAR AS HULLE BY DIE KLINIEKE WAS EN HULLE HET DIE REGTE MEDISYNE GEKRY DAN WORD HULLE TOG GESOND…SO EK DINK DIT HET HOM OORREED…
Today, 20 traditional healers counsel the hospital’s TB patients.
They even help with testing.
For the first time, the patients are finishing their drug courses.
And TB deaths are decreasing, drastically.
The healers now spend half the week counseling at clinics.
But they haven’t given up their own traditional practices.
They encourage new clients to go to hospital to be tested for TB and HIV.
Old patients come back and the healers make sure they take their drugs every day, until the end.
UPS MPILA: WE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ALWAYS, WITH THE PEOPLE, SICK PEOPLE HERE; WE ARE NEAR THE PEOPLE AND, PEOPLE UNDERSTAND US; WE ARE LIKE FATHER TO THEM.
UPS RIENSIE: AS JY IN PARTY VAN HIERDIE KLINIEKE KOM…DAAR’S PARTYKEER EEN SUSTER WAT 120 PASIENTE PER DAG SIEN…EN DAAR’S GEEN TYD VIR BERADING VIR DAAI ARME SUSTERS NIE…
UPS MPILA: FOR TRADITIONAL HEALERS, THERE ARE SO MANY BENEFITS…BECAUSE NOW THAT YOU HAVE…YOUR PATIENTS ARE GOING TO TRUST YOU MORE, BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE, YOU HAVE BIG KNOWLEDGE…YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF EVERYTHING…
Many of Mpila’s TB patients also get tested for HIV.
Healers counsel them and nurses do the Aids tests.
TB is often the first manifestation of Aids.
The test for TB is free, and painless.
It’s as simple as spitting into a bottle.
UPS NPILA: BUT NOW WE UNDERSTAND THE TB; WE CAN DIFFERENTIATE NOW BETWEEN THESE DISEASES WHICH NEEDS INDIGENOUS MEDICINES, AND THE DISEASES THAT NEEDS THE MODERN MED, MED, MEDICAL METHOD.
These days, only a few of Sakhile’s people die of TB.
They’ve realised Tubercolosis can be cured.
Even if they’ve got AIDS.
TB is everywhere.
Anyone can get it.
The TB test may be simple, but for many, it comes too late and at a price.
In Pretoria, Attie de Lange’s doctor struggled for three weeks before he realised what was wrong with his patient.
UPS ATTIE:
I GOT UP 6, 7 TIMES A NIGHT…COUGHING, WHEEZING…IT FELT LIKE FLU, A VERY BAD CASE OF FLU…COUGHING REGULARLY… HE DIAGNOSED ME ACTUALLY WITH FLU, HE TREATED ME FOR FLU FOR ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF…HE TOLD ME IF THIS DOESN’T WORK, COME BACK AND I’LL GIVE YOU SOME OTHER MEDICINE…SO I WENT BACK AFTER THE COURSE OF ANTIBIOTICS WAS FINISHED AND I WENT BACK AND HE GAVE ME SOMETHING FOR ASTHMA…HE TREATED ME FOR ASTHMA…ABOUT 2 DAYS LATER I WENT BACK TO HIM, I SAID DOC, WE BETTER DO SOMETHING…
Attie thinks he caught TB from someone in his local café…
Like most people in his community, he knew little of the disease.
He just thought it was highly contagious.
Initially, Attie was worried he’d infect his colleagues.
But his doctor set his mind at ease.
UPS ATTIE: b
IT’S ONLY CONTAGIOUS, THAT’S WHAT THE DOCTOR TOLD ME, UNTIL YOU START TO USE THE MEDICINE…AFTER THAT, NO PROBLEM…
Attie immediately told his colleagues he had Tuberculosis.
But a lot of people don’t want others to know they’ve got TB.
They fear they’ll be looked down upon.
UPS ATTIE:
ME I’M A DIFFERENCT KIND OF GUY…I TOLD THEM, LISTEN HERE, THEY KNEW I WAS SICK…SO WHEN I COME BACK THEY ASKED, WHAT’S WRONG…I TOLD THEM, JUST BE CAREFUL…IF ONE OF YOU START FEELING PRETTY BAD, AND I DESCRIBED THE SYMPTOMS TO THEM…GO TO THE DOCTOR…LET HIM CHECK YOU FOR TUBERCULOSIS…
UPS ATTIE:
FINISH YOUR MEDICATION, DO NOT INTERRUPT IT FOR LET’S SAY A MONTH AND THEN START AGAIN…OR ONCE YOU’VE STARTED, TAKE IT CONTINUOUSLY…
If adults with TB had followed advice such as this, these children would not have fallen ill.
Children can’t infect each other with TB… because they swallow the TB germ instead of coughing it up like adults.
The true spreaders of the disease are the adults who don’t take their medicine for the required six months …
Or, those grown ups who never knew they had TB…
If Anasthasia Japhta’s TB had been identified in time, her daughter, Benechia, would have been healthy.
Now, this little girl will have to cope with the devastating permanent scars TB will leave in her life.
VIEWING NOTES
10 pills…UP TO 10
more than two thirds of people with TB test positive for HIV
7 seconds….
· healers counsel patients while nurses do rapid AIDS testing…
· healers encourage patients to recognise the symptoms of TB and get tested
· to make sure they get treated for TB,which will prolong their lives
· the TB test
July 2003 – 25’00”
VISUALS: BENECHIA JAFTHA (3) IN HOSPITAL; DOC EXAMINES HER TAPE 2: 02:58:09 AND TAPE 3:03:00:44
Benechia Jaftha is in a critical condition.
Tuberculosis has damaged her brain.
She’s suffering from the most dangerous form of the disease.
At only three, she’s had a serious operation.
Doctors inserted a pipe to drain fluid from her brain.
It can never be removed.
TB has blocked off her brain’s drainage path permanently.
It’s unlikely that Benechia will ever fully recover.
UPSOUND: PROFESSOR JOHAN SCHOEMAN/TYGERBERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CLIP 1
TAPE 3: 03:25:41 SHE CAME IN TOO LATE. ONCE A CHILD IS SLEEPY, OR HAS A DEPRESSED LEVEL OF CONSIOUSNESS, AND SIGNS OF A MOTOR FALL OUT, LIKE THIS CHILD HAS GOT; YOU COULD SEE THE CHILD COULDN’T OPEN THE ONE EYE, AND WAS VERY SLEEPY. ONCE THAT HAPPENS, THEN THE OUTCOME ALREADY BECOMES WORSE. AND THE CHANCES OF COMPLETELY RECOVERY IS NOT GOOD.
VISUALS: BENECHIA (TIME CODES ABOVE) AND OTHER CHILDREN IN THE HOSPITAL TAPE (TAPE 3: 03:42:13)
Few children survive this with a normal level of intelligence.
For the rest of their lives, they suffer serious learning difficulties and behaviour problems.
All because they were diagnosed at too late a stage with TB – a completely curable disease.
TITLE:
VISUALS: UITSIG, WESTERN CAPE TAPE 5: 05:36:55
Uitsig at Bellville in the Western Cape.
It’s a community with one of the highest TB infection rates in the world.
In Africa, only Ethiopia and Nigera have higher TB rates than South Africa.
VISUALS: TYGERBERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL INSIDE WARDS TAPE 3: 03:43:13
Just across the road from Uitsig, is Tygerberg Children’s Hospital.
It’s into these wards that youngsters are admitted daily with one of the rarest and most dangerous forms of TB.
TB of the brain, also known as TB meningitis.
UPSOUND: PROFESSOR JOHAN SCHOEMAN/TYBERGERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CLIP 2
TAPE 03:38:32 AT THIS MOMENT IT IS MOST COMMON TYPE OF MENINGITIS SEEN AT TYGERBERG HOSPITAL. AND IF YOU WOULD TELL THIS TO ANYBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD, THEY WOULDN’T BELIEVE YOU, BECAUSE MANY PEOPLE OR DOCTORS IN FIRST WORLD COUNTRIES HAVEN’T SEEN
A SINGLE CASE OR PERHAPS ONE CASE IN THEIR LIVES.
VISUALS: WARD TAPE 3: 03:43:13 AND BENECIA 02:58:09 AND TAPE 3:03:00:44
It’s difficult to know when a child has TB meningitis.
Young children like Benechia’s are most vulnerable.
They’re too small to alert their parents to symptoms such as headaches.
In South Africa almost everyone has been in contact with someone who’s got TB.
So simple skin tests that have always been used have become unreliable.
UPSOUND: DR NEIL SELLER/TYGERBERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CLIP 3
03:08:32 THE SKIN TEST THAT WE DO USE FOR DIAGNOSIS OF TB IN CHILDREN IS ONLY A WAY OF SHOWING THAT SOMEONE HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO TB, AND NOT NECESSARILY SICK. AND THE FACT IS THAT WE ALL MIGHT HAVE POSITIVE SKIN TESTS FOR TB, BUT IT DOES NOT MEAN THAT WE’RE SICK.
VISUALS: ADULT WARD AT YSTERPLAAT TAPE 2: 02:50:56
Kids get sick from adults.
Grown-ups get TB in their lungs and spread it when they cough.
The TB germ destroys the lungs and harms other vital organs, like the brain.
It’s incredibly dangerous to children...even if they’ve been immunised at birth...as all children are.
What makes the situation even worse, is that most adults aren’t aware that they’ve got TB.
VISUALS: BENECIA JAFTHA 02:58:09 AND TAPE 3:03:00:44
Benechia Jaftha’s mother had no idea.
UPSOUND: DR NEIL SELLER/TYGERBERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CLIP 4
TAPE 3:13:21 THIS IS A TYPICAL CASE WHERE WE’VE GOT A FAMILY MEMBER OF THE PATIENT THAT HAS TB. IN THIS CASE IT’S THE MOTHER OF THE PATIENT AND SHE MOST PROBABLY GAVE HER CHILD TB. WE DIAGNOSED HERE WITH TB; SHE DID NOT KNOW, BUT SHE HAD THE SYMPTOMS OF TB; SHE WAS COUGHING, LOSING WEIGHT, HAVING NIGHT SWEATS, BUT SHE HAD NOT KNOW THAT SHE HAD TB.
VISUALS: ANASTASIA JAFTHA AT HOME IN VILLIERSDORP HANGING UP CLOTHES ON LINE TAPE 5: 05:10:07
Doctors first told Anasthasia Jaftha her daughter had gastro.
But the medication didn’t work.
And then she noticed strange symtoms.
UPSOUND: ANASTASIA JAFTHA/MOTHER AND TB SUFFERER
CLIP 7
TAPE 5:05:26:10 DIE DONDERDAG NAMIDDAG TOE VIND EK UIT, MAAR MY KIND BEGINNE RAAK LAM, EN DIE KWYL LOOP BY HAAR MOND UIT. TOE HET EK PROBEER OM MY MORS IN HAAR MOND TE STEEK; SY’T NOT BORS GEDRINK, EN DIE BORS HET OOK VANSELF UITGEVAL UIT HAAR MOND UIT. EN, EN SY’T BEGIN AMPER SO STYF RAAK, EN EK HET DIE SUSTER GEVRA WAT IS NOU FOUT MET MY KIND…DIE DOKTER HE GESE DAT HY GAAN VAN HAAR RUGMURG TREK OM TE KYK OF SY NIE MENINGITIS HET NIE…05:27:06 DIE MAANDAG HET EK HAAR GEVAT VIR DIE KOPSCAN. …DIE DINSDAG HET HULLE MY GESTUUR NA TYGERBERG TOE. HULLE’T MY GESE DAT SY TB MENINGITIS HET.
Benechia’s mother was so infectious, that she had to be sent home.
She was a danger to the other children in the hospital ward.
She works on an apple farm in Villiersdorp in the Overberg.
But now she’s a danger to her family and colleagues.
Due to an administrative error, she hasn’t obtained TB drugs yet.
She’s still highly contagious.
If she doesn’t start taking medicine soon, she’ll infect up to fifteen other workers this year.
Her partner, Benechia’s father, is most at risk.
UPSOUND: ANASTASIA JAFTHA/MOTHER AND TB SUFFERER
CLIP 6
TAPE 5: 05:34:37 DIT IS DIE PUNT. EK IS BANG DAT EK VIR HULLE SAL AANSTEEK. DIS HOEKOM EK VIR HOM GESE HET HY MOET OOK TOETSE GAAN NEEM, VAN SY, SY SPEEEKSEL EN NOU SY BORS…coughing…
VISUALS: ANASTASIA AT HOME – HANGING UP CLOTHES TAPE 5: 05:10:07
VISUALS: BENECHIA AT HOSPITAL OR PICTURES AT HOME.
Benechia is likely to live with the after effects of TB meningitis forever.
Because she was diagnosed too late.
UPSOUND: PROF JOHAN SCHOEMAN/TYGERBERG CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
CLIP 5
TAPE 3: 03:24:26 WE RECENTLY DID A LONG TERM FOLLOW UP STUDY OF TB MENINGITIS AT HOUR HOSPITAL, AND WE FOUND THAT THE MAJOR LONG–TERM CONSEQUENCE OF THIS DISEASE HAS TO DO WITH INTELLIGENCE AND BEHAVIOUR. 03:24:40 ONLY TWENTY PERCENT OF CHILDREN WHO HAD THIS DISEASE, HAD A NORMAL INTELLIGENCE. MOST OF THE CHILDREN HAD SERIOUS LEARNING PROBLEMS, AND UP TO HALF OF THE CHILDREN HAD SERIOUS BEHAVIOUR PROBLEMS. ABOUT TWENTY FIVE OR A QUARTER OF THE CHILDREN, ALSO HAD MOTOR HANDICAPS, IN OTHER WORDS, THEY HAD WEAKNESS ON THE ONE SIDE OF THE BODY.
VISUALS: BENECHIA’S FAMILY GOING THROUGH PICTURES OF HER TAPE 5: 05:15:02
Benechia will be separated from her family for at least 7 months. She will stay in Tygerberg Hospital for a month.
Then, she’ll spend half a year in a TB hospital.
Tubercolosis treatment takes a long time, and the pills have serious side effects.
They make children feel nauseous and weak.
If youngsters are kept at home, they almost never complete their treatment.
BRIDGE: SONG OF BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL TAPE 1: 01:32:45 – 01:36:18
Brooklyn Chest Hospital in Ysterplaat, Cape Town, is for kids with TB.
They live here for a minimum of 6 months.
It’s a whole new way of life.
They go to school inside the hospital…and take up to 10 tablets every day.
We’re here at Brooklyn Chest, the TB hospital
Here we get better soon, and fat and round…
We want to tell you that you’ll stay here for 6 months
Take your medicine and eat good food, go exercise
Then you’ll get better quickly…
VISUALS: TAPE 1 01:32:40 SCHOOL SHOTS – TEACHER WITH JACO AT HIS DESK
Some have to stay longer than others.
Like Jaco Joseph.
He’s got a form of lung TB for which normal drugs don’t work.
It’s twenty times more expensive to treat.
His mother and grandmother both died of TB.
Because his mother did not complete her treatment, she got multi drug resistant TB.
And she passed that form of Tuberculosis on to Jaco.
UPSOUND: JACO JOSEPH (14)/TB PATIENT, BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 1
01:39:02 DIS DIE BESTE AS JY JOU PILLE DRINK. EN DIE WAT NIE HULLE PILLE DRINK NIE, HULLE SAL DOODGAAN. DIS DIE BESTE OM DIE PILLE TE DRINK. 01:39:14 starts crying EK IS SO HARTSEER. 01:39:26 Waaroor is jy hartseer, Jaco? TAPE 1: 01:39:26 MY MA MOET HAAR PILLE GEVAT, NOU IS DIT, NOU’S DIT DEUR HAAR WAT EK OOK SIEK IS. EN EK VOEL NIE LEKKER NIE.
Jaco has to stay at Brooklyn Chest Hospital for eight months.
He arrived with chest pains, night sweats and was coughing up phlegm.
He was also severely underweight.
UPSOUND: JACO JOSEPH (14)/TB PATIENT, BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 3
01:45:15 EK WAS, EK KAN NIE GELOOP HET NIE, BAIE KORT ASEM. EK KAN NET HIERVAN UIT DIE HUIS UIT LOOP TOILET TOE. AS EK IN DIE TOILET KOM, DAN'S EK BAIE MOEG, BAIE BAIE MOED, SOOS EEN WAT NOU HONDERD METER GEHARDLOOP HET.
Every morning, Jaco and his classmates have to queue for a large assortment of TB pills, which have many side effects.
UPSOUND: SISTER LYDIA SMITH/BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 7
TAPE 2: 02:33:28 HERE ARE THE TABLETS THAT CAUSES THE RED IN THE URINE, THERE ARE JUST AN IRON TABLET; IF THE CHILD IS ANEMIC, PERHAPS, AND THIS IS JUST THE DAILY DOSAGE FOR THE IRON BECAUSE SOME OF THESE TABLET BREAK IRON UP, AND THEN THE CHILDREN CAN BECOME ANEMIC AFTERWARDS, EVEN IF THEY’VE NEVER BEEN. 02:33:47 THESE ARE THE ONES THAT HAS GOT THE SMELL, YOU CAN SMELL THEM. AND THIS IS THE ONE THAT THE CHILDREN DON’T LIKE A LOT; IT CAUSES A LOT OF VOMITING TOO FOR THEM. AND THERE ARE THE GREY ONES THAT WE ALSO GIVE FOR THEM, IF THEY CAN’T TOLERATE THESE YELLOW ONES, DOCTOR SOMETIMES GIVE THEM THESE ONES.
It’s difficult for even highly experienced nurses to make these children take their tablets for an entire six months.
That’s why most kids have to stay at hospital, and not at home.
UPSOUND: SISTER LYDIA SMITH/BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 16
02:21:50 THERE’S SUCH A LOT OF PROBLEMS AT THE BEGINNING. 02:22:00 ESPECIALLY IS IT’S A NEW TB CASE, THEY…DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS, TO TAKE ALL THESE TABLETS. MAYBE AT HOME THEY WILL HAVE TWO TABLETS, FOR A HEADACHE, OR ONE TABLET, BUT IMAGINE TB TALETS. YOU MUST TAKE ALMOST A HANDFUL, AND THOUGH WE SAY IT’S LIKE SMARTIES, IT DOESN’T TASTE LIKE SMARTIES. IT DOESN’T SMELL LIKE SMARTIES. (SO YOU’LL HAVE TO COME UP WITH MEANS TO CONVINCE THEM OF TAKING THEIR TABLETS.
The most dangerous thing children can do is to stop taking their TB tablets when they start to feel better.
If they do, they’ll develop multi–drug resistant TB, the form Jaco’s mother has passed on to him.
Few drugs can fight it.
UPSOUND: JACO JOSEPH/TB PATIENT (14) BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 4
TAPE 1:41:01 EK SE AANMEKAAR VIR DIE KINDERS, WANNEER, TOE SE EK NOU DIE DAG IR JUFFROU OOK, DAAR BY DIE STOEP, EK VOEL AL OF EK GESOND IS, EK KAN AL HUIS TOE GAAN, MAAR TOE SE JUFFROU VIR MY: ‘DIT VOEL VIR JOU SO, JACO, MAAR JY’S NOG NIE HEELTEMAAL GESOND NIE. JY MOET NOG EERS JOU PILLE VAT EN TOT WANNEER HULLE SIEN, MAAR JY’S NOU AL GESOND, EN DAN KAN JY REGTIG HUIS TOE GAAN.
Some children here also have TB of the brain…
They have intense memory problems.
They often don’t remember the previous day’s school work.
Pills also sometimes make children very tired.
UPSOUND: MS HELENA LE ROUX/TEACHER/BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 17
TAPE 1: 02:01:26 SOMETIMES THEY ARE SLEEPY AFTER THE PILLS. BUT THE BIGGER ONES, NO, THEY ARE FINE. SOMETIMES THE LITTLE ONES, LAYDOWN HERE ON THE MAT, AND THEN THEY SLEEP FOR A LONG WHILE, IN THE MORNINGS.
Most of the children attending this school, come from poor families.
TB is often called a disease of poverty.
So, for many children, the TB school is better than the schools they’re used to.
The hospital has found that since it began teaching patients, they heal at a much quicker rate.
UPSOUND: JACO JOSEPH (14)/TB PATIENT/BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 5
TAPE 1: 01:44:23 DIS ’N BAIE BETERE SKOOL, WANT JY BETAAL NIE SKOOLFONDS HIER, JY KRY ALLES VERNIET, JY KRY EETGOETERTJIES VERNIET. EN DIE WERK WAT JY DOEN IS SO INTERESSANT…JY WERK SO LEKKER WANT JY DINK JY WERK BY DIE HUIS, WANT AS JY GESOND RAAK, JY VOEL NIE JY RAAK GESOND, SO LEKKER WERK JY.
Jaco was twelve when his mother died.
His little brother was three months old.
He now wants to get better and go home…to tell his brother who his mother was…
UPSOUND: JACO JOSEPH (14)/TB PATIENT/BROOKLYN CHEST HOSPITAL
CLIP 6
TAPE 1:49:07 EK WIL BY HOM WEES WAT EK HOM KAN VERDUIDELIK WIE’S SY MA EN MY MA….HY BLY BY AUNT SOPHIE–HULLE EN BY OOM JOHN. SY NAAM IS DIMITRI ALEXANDER JOSEPH…AS EK BY DIE HUIS KOM, DAN WIL EK VIR HULLE SE, HULLE MOET IR HOM OOK OP ’N TOETS VAT OM TE KYK, SOOS HY MISKIEN GROOT RAAK, SAL HY OOK MY MA SE SIEKTE AF.
Jaco won’t see home for another five months.
Like everyone here, Jaco first has to complete his TB drugs.
They’re not easy to take.
But they’re very effective, and will cure him completely.
PART TWO (AFTER AD BREAK)
RIVER, CEMETARY
In South Africa, TB rates are more than double those in other developing countries.
The township of Sakhile is outside Standerton, in southern Mpumalanga.
It’s one of the only communities in the country to have found a plan that’s working in the battle against Tuberculosis.
But it hasn’t been easy.
Two years ago, almost no one finished their TB treatment.
Residents here died young.
Needless deaths, because TB can be cured completely.
Traditional healers are the first port of call for the residents of Sakhile.
Hundreds of healers practice around here.
Fannie Simelane has TB for the third time.
UPS FANNIE SIMELANE: I GOT SWEATS AT NIGHT AND LOST MY WEIGHT…LOSING APPETITE AND ALL THOSE THINGS…
The clinic gave TB pills to Fannie for free.
Yet twice before, he simply stopped taking his medicine.
So every time, he got sick again.
No one helped Fannie to understand that TB treatment takes 6 months…
His traditional healer and the hospital that treated him, sent him very mixed messages…
UPS MOSES VEZI: WE WERE SEPARATELY…THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT WAS THAT SIDE. THE TRADITIONAL HEALERS ONE SIDE. AND THEN, IF THE PATIENT GO TO THE HOSPITAL OR CLINIC, THEY TELL THEM THAT YOU MUSN’T GO TO THE TRADITIONAL HEALERS… IF THE PATIENT COME TO US WE SAID YOU MUSN’T GO TO THE HOSPITAL, OR YOU MUSN’T GO TO THE CLINIC, BECAUSE THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING…IT WAS LIKE THAT BEFORE...
And Fannie wasn’t the only one who was confused.
His community didn’t know who to trust.
What complicated things further, was the impact of AIDS on Tuberculosis.
HIV fuels the TB epidemic: two thirds of TB sufferers also have HIV.
Those in Sakhile started believing that TB, like Aids, couldn’t be cured.
UPS MPILA
THE TB WAS TAKEN AS SOMETHING INCURABLE. THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE, DYING OF TB. AND PEOPLE SINCE THE HIV,UH, TOPIC HAS COME INTO, DISCUSSION, AND HAS BEEN THE COMMON THING TO TALK ABOUT, PEOPLE NOW WHO WERE DYING AS IF TB COULDN’T BE CURED…
Nyangesiswe Mpila realised his people would pay the price unless he and his colleagues took immediate action.
UPS MPILA: WE DECIDED NOW TO STAND UP AND TALK TO OUR PEOPLE AND TRY TO MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND THAT TAKING THIS MEDICATION, TB MEDICATION, WILL SAVE THEIR LIVES. IF YOU TAKE TB MEDICATION, YOU ARE GOING TO BE CURED, THROUGH YOU HAVE AN HIV VIRUS…
Two years ago, Mpila realised Standerton Hospital could help him to save his patients from TB.
Help came in the form of Riensie Vellema.
UPS RIENSIE VELLEMA: HY’T DADELIK GESÊ DAAR’S ‘N GROOT LEEMTE…HULLE MENSE GAAN DOOD…MAAR AS HULLE BY DIE KLINIEKE WAS EN HULLE HET DIE REGTE MEDISYNE GEKRY DAN WORD HULLE TOG GESOND…SO EK DINK DIT HET HOM OORREED…
Today, 20 traditional healers counsel the hospital’s TB patients.
They even help with testing.
For the first time, the patients are finishing their drug courses.
And TB deaths are decreasing, drastically.
The healers now spend half the week counseling at clinics.
But they haven’t given up their own traditional practices.
They encourage new clients to go to hospital to be tested for TB and HIV.
Old patients come back and the healers make sure they take their drugs every day, until the end.
UPS MPILA: WE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO ALWAYS, WITH THE PEOPLE, SICK PEOPLE HERE; WE ARE NEAR THE PEOPLE AND, PEOPLE UNDERSTAND US; WE ARE LIKE FATHER TO THEM.
UPS RIENSIE: AS JY IN PARTY VAN HIERDIE KLINIEKE KOM…DAAR’S PARTYKEER EEN SUSTER WAT 120 PASIENTE PER DAG SIEN…EN DAAR’S GEEN TYD VIR BERADING VIR DAAI ARME SUSTERS NIE…
UPS MPILA: FOR TRADITIONAL HEALERS, THERE ARE SO MANY BENEFITS…BECAUSE NOW THAT YOU HAVE…YOUR PATIENTS ARE GOING TO TRUST YOU MORE, BECAUSE THEY KNOW THAT YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE, YOU HAVE BIG KNOWLEDGE…YOU HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF EVERYTHING…
Many of Mpila’s TB patients also get tested for HIV.
Healers counsel them and nurses do the Aids tests.
TB is often the first manifestation of Aids.
The test for TB is free, and painless.
It’s as simple as spitting into a bottle.
UPS NPILA: BUT NOW WE UNDERSTAND THE TB; WE CAN DIFFERENTIATE NOW BETWEEN THESE DISEASES WHICH NEEDS INDIGENOUS MEDICINES, AND THE DISEASES THAT NEEDS THE MODERN MED, MED, MEDICAL METHOD.
These days, only a few of Sakhile’s people die of TB.
They’ve realised Tubercolosis can be cured.
Even if they’ve got AIDS.
TB is everywhere.
Anyone can get it.
The TB test may be simple, but for many, it comes too late and at a price.
In Pretoria, Attie de Lange’s doctor struggled for three weeks before he realised what was wrong with his patient.
UPS ATTIE:
I GOT UP 6, 7 TIMES A NIGHT…COUGHING, WHEEZING…IT FELT LIKE FLU, A VERY BAD CASE OF FLU…COUGHING REGULARLY… HE DIAGNOSED ME ACTUALLY WITH FLU, HE TREATED ME FOR FLU FOR ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF…HE TOLD ME IF THIS DOESN’T WORK, COME BACK AND I’LL GIVE YOU SOME OTHER MEDICINE…SO I WENT BACK AFTER THE COURSE OF ANTIBIOTICS WAS FINISHED AND I WENT BACK AND HE GAVE ME SOMETHING FOR ASTHMA…HE TREATED ME FOR ASTHMA…ABOUT 2 DAYS LATER I WENT BACK TO HIM, I SAID DOC, WE BETTER DO SOMETHING…
Attie thinks he caught TB from someone in his local café…
Like most people in his community, he knew little of the disease.
He just thought it was highly contagious.
Initially, Attie was worried he’d infect his colleagues.
But his doctor set his mind at ease.
UPS ATTIE: b
IT’S ONLY CONTAGIOUS, THAT’S WHAT THE DOCTOR TOLD ME, UNTIL YOU START TO USE THE MEDICINE…AFTER THAT, NO PROBLEM…
Attie immediately told his colleagues he had Tuberculosis.
But a lot of people don’t want others to know they’ve got TB.
They fear they’ll be looked down upon.
UPS ATTIE:
ME I’M A DIFFERENCT KIND OF GUY…I TOLD THEM, LISTEN HERE, THEY KNEW I WAS SICK…SO WHEN I COME BACK THEY ASKED, WHAT’S WRONG…I TOLD THEM, JUST BE CAREFUL…IF ONE OF YOU START FEELING PRETTY BAD, AND I DESCRIBED THE SYMPTOMS TO THEM…GO TO THE DOCTOR…LET HIM CHECK YOU FOR TUBERCULOSIS…
UPS ATTIE:
FINISH YOUR MEDICATION, DO NOT INTERRUPT IT FOR LET’S SAY A MONTH AND THEN START AGAIN…OR ONCE YOU’VE STARTED, TAKE IT CONTINUOUSLY…
If adults with TB had followed advice such as this, these children would not have fallen ill.
Children can’t infect each other with TB… because they swallow the TB germ instead of coughing it up like adults.
The true spreaders of the disease are the adults who don’t take their medicine for the required six months …
Or, those grown ups who never knew they had TB…
If Anasthasia Japhta’s TB had been identified in time, her daughter, Benechia, would have been healthy.
Now, this little girl will have to cope with the devastating permanent scars TB will leave in her life.
VIEWING NOTES
10 pills…UP TO 10
more than two thirds of people with TB test positive for HIV
7 seconds….
· healers counsel patients while nurses do rapid AIDS testing…
· healers encourage patients to recognise the symptoms of TB and get tested
· to make sure they get treated for TB,which will prolong their lives
· the TB test