Mlamleli vows to fight TB

The executive mayor of Mangaung Metro Municipality, Olly Mlamleli, has announced the municipality’s plans to significantly reduce the number of people infected with TB in the next five years.

Addressing the Mangaung Council and HIV/Aids stakeholders in Bloemfontein last week where she outlined the metro’s strategies to combat the epidemic, Mlamleli said she was targeting to have 54 percent of Mangaung residents screened for the ailment and at least 89 percent of those diagnosed, treated.

She also pledged to do all in her power to help the community of Mangaung fight the stigmatisation of both TB and HIV/AIDS.

“This is one fight that requires the municipality and institutions like the AIDS council to come together and find solutions.

“I have been informed that at some public health facilities those living with these diseases queue up in separate rooms from other patients, to receive medication.

“This is the exact kind of discrimination and stigma that we do not need. Public institutions and health officials who subject our people to such treatment must be dealt with.

“I will be conducting unannounced visits at public hospitals and clinics to observe first-hand the kind of treatment that people experience on a daily basis. We are not going to compromise on service delivery; those who are not serious about delivering, especially in the health sector, should excuse themselves,” she said.

Mlamleli also used the occasion to disclose that the municipality would be working closely with the Treatment Action Campaign, as the organisation’s experience and expertise in the fight against HIV/AIDS was of utmost importance to the municipality.

“This is an important structure with the relevant knowhow and we cannot afford to side-line it because of our past differences. We are dealing with human lives here, not personal vendettas. It is in the light of this that we want them to share their knowledge and propose solutions on how best we can deal with this disease,” said Mlamleli.