02 Aug 2017

Humana People to People Francistown office manager, Ms  Kesegofetse Gaolebe has called on people to change their behaviour on issues related to the spread of Tuberculosis.

Speaking during TB campaign to raise awareness in the area recently, she said their previous research had shown that a lot of people who were screened and diagnosed with the disease were not on treatment, calling for the need to follow up the contacts.

She added that the area had had and still had residents who worked at the mines which made them prone to catching the disease, urging them to do screenings.

Ms Gaolebe advised the residents to change their attitudes towards those who were living with the disease, noting that they should support them in taking their treatment and eating healthy food as well as going for regular checkups.

He further urged them to stop smoking as it contributed much to the disease and to stop faking taking treatment as they were only digging graves for themselves.

The officer also urged TB patients to protect their families and those around them by taking the necessary precautions to avoid spreading the disease as it was airborne.

For his part, a nurse at Matsiloje Clinic, Mr Chenesani Lemogang expressed concern at TB prevalence cases which he said mostly affected men.

He said they had registered six cases of new infections so far this year of which the affected were people living with HIV. Most of them, he noted,  smoked and drunk alcohol.

He discouraged consumption of alcohol saying it contributed much to the spread of the HIV infection. ENDS