TB

Silicosis: mining companies hit back in court

Allowing the miners in the landmark silicosis case to act as a class on behalf of other miners would be contrary to the interests of justice, lawyers for the gold mining companies argued yesterday.

Lwandile Fikeni

News | 16 October 2015

Life-saving drug stopped by sole supplier

South Africa is running out of an essential medicine for treating very sick patients with tuberculosis (TB) and drug-resistant bacterial infections. Many hospitals are already out of stock.

GroundUp Staff

News | 5 October 2015

We’re being targeted, say homeless

Homeless people in Observatory, Woodstock and Bellville have complained about a wave of law enforcement operations against them in the last two months.

Ian Broughton

Feature | 8 April 2015

MPs urged to get tested for TB

All MPs should get themselves tested for TB, the Treatment Action Campaign says.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 24 March 2015

TAC march to parliament on world TB day

Activists from the Treatment Action Campaign marched on Parliament this morning to call for better leadership in tuberculosis (TB) treatment and prevention in South Africa. Today is World TB day.

Daneel Knoetze

Brief | 24 March 2015

TB activist to hear again

With only days to go before the deadline, activists from TB Proof have raised the R230,000 needed for Phumeza Tisile to have cochlear implants. The operation will give Tisile, a tuberculosis patient turned activist, the opportunity to hear again.

Daneel Knoetze

News | 23 January 2015

Organisations allege dreadful conditions at Pollsmoor awaiting trial facility

Lack of mattresses, a leaking roof, lack of hot water and insufficient access to medical treatment: Pollsmoor’s facility for awaiting trial prisoners has been slammed by civil society organisations for what they call “several concerns regarding conditions of detention at the facility.”

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 27 November 2014

“You see yourself vanishing and you think: I’m going to die”

Andaleeb Rinquest remembers the moment she accepted, with certainty, the imminence of her own death.

Daneel Knoetze

Feature | 26 November 2014

A deadly disease that demands huge investment

No doubt you’ve heard there’s a disease about that is infectious, difficult to treat and that has an extremely high death rate.

Nathan Geffen

Opinion | 15 October 2014

Masekane: a crisis in the heart of Woodstock

A hacking cough comes from the motley group of people huddled together in a flimsy shack alongside the railway line near Woodstock’s industrial area. It could be from the smoke from the fire; it could be from the cigarette smoke that fills the shack – or it could be tuberculosis.

Ian Broughton

News | 10 October 2014

TAC plans fundraising drive as crunch time looms

Even though the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) faces the possibility of closing down due to a lack of funding, it says there is no need to worry yet.

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 1 October 2014

In the footsteps of Dudley Lee: prisoners to sue government

Several prisoners intend suing the Department of Correctional Services because they contracted tuberculosis (TB) in prison.

GroundUp Staff

News | 28 August 2014

TAC pickets Michael Mapongwana baby unit

“There is no privacy, you are asked in front of everyone what your baby's HIV status is. It is dirty and the staff is very disrespectful in the way they speak to patients. I don’t go to that clinic anymore; it’s been a year now. Because of their treatment I did something I shouldn’t have done, I tested my child for HIV myself, because I too work at a clinic.”

Mary-Anne Gontsana

News | 14 August 2014

Activists call for fair employment conditions for community health workers

Community health workers (CHWs) are an essential link between communities and the often confusing health-care system. There are about 70,000 of them countrywide. They do a myriad tasks: visiting and assisting frail people at their homes, educating people about HIV and TB, and much more. But their conditions of employment are beset with problems.

Barbara Maregele

News | 9 July 2014

The week in political activism

This week we cover the availability of generic drug-resistant tuberculosis medication in Khayelitsha, a worldwide anti-corruption campaign taken up by Corruption Watch, a parents’ camp hosted by Equal Education, and an upcoming school infrastructure reform conference.

Michelle Korte

News | 3 July 2014

Dudley Lee, who successfully sued government, has died

Dudley Lee died at the age of 68 on 21 May in Victoria Hospital. He successfully sued the Minister of Correctional Services because he became ill with tuberculosis (TB) while awaiting trial in Pollsmoor prison.

GroundUp Staff

News | 23 May 2014