Ingrid Schoeman
Mobile +27 76 892 1974
Email [email protected]
Candy Jacobs
Mobile +27 73 841 8752
Email [email protected]
For information regarding COVID-19 visit the South African Department of Health or WHO websites at https://sacoronavirus.co.za or www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus
All oral drug-resistant TB treatment
TB Proof aims to pursue health equity by advocating for person-centred, high quality TB prevention and care for everyone affected by TB. TB survivors part of TB Proof were
personally affected by adverse effects of the injectable drug that was used to treat drug-resistant TB (DR-TB).
Phumeza Tisile, TB Proof activist, lost her hearing due
to the injectable drug used to treat XDR-TB. She shared her story on multiple platforms and united with TB affected communities to advocate for all oral treatment for DR-TB.
Scientific evidence supported the use of newer, safer medication to treat DR-TB, yet treatment guidelines included the injectable drug that increases the risk for permanent hearing loss.
Aims
TB Proof’s advocacy campaign ‘Not Deaf or Dead – A Third Choice’ called for policy makers
to replace the injectable drug used to treat DR-TB with newer, safer, more effective treatment
options.
Project Achievements
TB Proof co-launched the #MyPatientsChoice Pledge, calling for all people to be offered an
informed choice between a safer and more effective novel drug or a toxic injectable drug for the
treatment of DR-TB. DR-TB is the name given to TB when the TB bacteria is resistant to at least
one of the first-line TB drugs. TB Proof utilized international advocacy events (e.g. WHO
Ministerial Meeting, Moscow, and World TB Day luncheon, New York), collective CSO initiatives
and existing relationships with National, Provincial and local healthcare stakeholders,
researchers and journalists to create evidence-based awareness and gain support.
Affected
DR-TB survivors led the push for National policy change with powerful personal testimonies.
Media coverage included 23 online articles and six publications in South African newspapers
and magazines.
The pledge was signed by 13 organizations and 188 individuals, including the South African
Director of DR-TB and TB & HIV. In 2018, South Africa announced a landmark change in its
DR-TB guidelines, representing a collective advocacy success for patients, CSOs, academic
and healthcare partners. The WHO subsequently released guidelines that prioritize the use of
bedaquiline and linezolid over injectable drugs in DR-TB regimens.
TB Proof continues to advocate for safer and more effective treatment and prevention options,
with a special focus on high risk groups.
Our advocacy projects
Latent TB Treatment
Some people may have latent TB – where some is infected by the TB bacteria but they do not show TB symptoms and cannot infect others.
CHW TB Champions
A community health worker (CHW) is a representative of a specific community. They have earned the communities’ trust to enter their homes and assist them to improve their health status.
#UnmaskStigma Campaign
Stigma is a term describing the feeling of being ashamed, or experiencing societal disapproval in the way that other people treat you.
TB IPC Training
Healthcare workers (HCWs) are three times more likely to be infected by TB than the general public and six times more likely to be hospitalized with drug-resistant TB.