Proactive Disease Campaign 'Results in Cost Savings'

National and provincial health officials are conducting a house-to-house campaign to combine HIV and TB testing and treatment, attendees at the 5th South African AIDS Conference in Durban learned Tuesday. David Mametja, chief director of TB control and management at the Department of Health, said the proactive effort represents a new way of managing the diseases, which often jointly affect South Africans.

The decentralized program seeks out patients where they live, instead of waiting for them to arrive at the hospital or a clinic, said Mametja. It began as a pilot initiative in Tugela Ferry in KwaZulu-Natal, following the outbreak of drug-resistant TB there in 2005. In the province, some 70 percent of TB patients are co-infected with HIV.

Since February, 238 teams have made more than 41,000 household visits and conducted more than 100,000 screenings. Using rapid diagnostic technology, the teams have diagnosed TB in about 20,800 people.

Mametja said the program has resulted in an approximately 30 percent savings in patient management, compared to hospital efforts. Patients also have reported more satisfaction being treated at home instead of at a facility, and their disease are being more closely managed, he said.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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