The latest effort by the provincial Department of Health and Wellness and partners to eradicate tuberculosis (TB) recently came to Khayamandi in the form of a mobile X-ray unit for quick TB detection. The sooner TB is identified the sooner life-saving treatment can start.
The mobile digital chest X-ray service made various stops in the local township during the week of Monday 19 August. The service follows a partnership between the department and the Maternal, Adolescent and Child Health Institute (MatCH). It was launched in the Breede Valley in May, after which it spent time in the West Coast.
The recent short stop in Khayamandi was to determine what practical issues must be considered when the mobile unit roams in the area in future. It also gave representatives of the USAID, who funds MatCH for the TB support programme, the opportunity to get a closer look at TB services at a primary healthcare facility and how the mobile X-ray unit strengthens these services.
“There is a need for this kind of support,” said Sister Sondezwa Ngabase, operational manager of Khayamandi Clinic, on welcoming representatives of the USAID to the clinic where the mobile unit was stationed on Wednesday 21 August. “Yesterday after we did an X-ray we realised the patient needed hospitalisation, and we could arrange that immediately.”
The mobile service allows the on-board radiographer Eunel Kleinhans to take a chest X-ray of the patient where the mobile is parked. Within minutes she provides the image and report to the patient.
A nurse at the local clinic then assists the patient with the next steps. If the patient has TB, counselling and treatment can start, and health-care workers can get in touch with family members and other close contacts to prevent TB from spreading. Up to 40 chest X-rays can be done in one day.
Dr Moegamad Kahaar, MatCH senior technical adviser for drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB, commented: ‘‘MatCH has, with our [primary recipient], THINK-SA, and through the generous support of USAID Southern Africa, continued to pledge our support to improve access to TB screening services to local communities like Khayamandi via our mobile digital chest x-ray services. Due to the relatively quick nature of performing X-rays and then getting their results within minutes, we can quickly identify those community members who are at high risk of having TB and then getting them started on treatment as soon as possible.”
The department thanked all partners and role-players for their support in strengthening TB prevention and treatment. Health-care workers reminds locals to visit their nearest clinic if they have one of the most common signs of TB: a persistent or unexplained cough, coughing up blood, pain in your chest when coughing or breathing, weight loss and/or loss of appetite, or when children do not gain weight as expected; generally feeling unwell, or having a fever; and sweating profusely at night.
People who test positive for TB can be treated and cured by completing their treatment. with constant support from healthcare staff along the journey.
The department will inform communities when the mobile unit returns to the Cape Winelands.
