In DWF’s\u00a0HEALTH IN EVERY HUT PROGRAMME, Community Health Outreach Workers (CHOWs) visit homes screening for TB, hypertension, diabetes, HIV and monitor maternal and child health. They record the location of homesteads\u00a0using GPS coordinates. DWF CHOW, \u00a0Noalon Rolinyathi chats to\u00a0Siyolo Mayeza during a homestead screening. Photo – Susan Winters Cook<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

Earlier this year, Foundation staff working in the Health in Every Hut programme met with the head of the TB unit at Madwaleni Hospital in an effort to forge stronger links and map out ways of assisting the unit with case identification and fostering treatment adherence for patients discharged from hospital.<\/p>\n

Head of Paediatrics and the MDR-TB Unit, Dr John D. Lotz introduced the 180-bed hospital\u2019s TB programme to both screening and embedded CHOWs. Madwaleni Hospital \u00a0serves the Mbashe health sub-district and has\u00a0an estimated population of around 265 000. Some health researchers have\u00a0rated the Mbashe area the eighth most deprived sub-district in the country.<\/p>\n

Rural areas also have a high TB and MDR-TB burden with former migrant labourers (miners) and children under five years being particularly at risk. In remote rural areas, GeneXpert tests are sent to regional areas such as Mthatha, which then alert district hospitals and clinics of identified TB cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes we have addresses or approximate locations but clinics often do not have the resources to follow-up these cases. We struggle to get to the homesteads of these patients.\u00a0This is where DWF can really helps us by being our hand and feet on the ground,\u201d Dr Lotz added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He explained to health outreach workers what MDR-TB was and how they could both protect themselves from infection and counsel patients on infection control together with outlining treatment and drug regimens.<\/p>\n

The treatment regimens for both MDR and XDR-TB are notoriously onerous for patients usually lasting up to 24 months with the possibility of severe side effects such as deafness from Kanamycin injections; nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; renal failure and jaundice. This is one of the reasons that patients give up on their treatment, particularly in rural areas where bad roads and poverty make it nigh impossible for patients to access district hospitals and local clinics.<\/p>\n

\u201cMadwaleni has four outreach sites \u2013 Madwaleni, Xhora Community Health Centre (CHC), Willowvale and Dutywa – where we see our patients once a\u00a0month on a Wednesday. We split the patients so that we see them at the closest outreach site to where they live,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Ways in which DWF can assist<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
• By finding patients who have defaulted and somehow getting them to come back to Madwaleni to continue treatment;<\/li>\n
• To\u00a0caution\u00a0and counsel close contacts\/community leaders at homes of patients who have defaulted;<\/li>\n
• By finding new patients and persuading them to come to Madwaleni for admission and treatment;<\/li>\n
• With contact tracing and home visits of known DR-TB patients including contact tracing at homes and referrals to clinics for sputum testing; identifing contacts under 5 years and referring them to Madwaleni OPD; educating families (with their consent) on MDR-TB safety, risk and infection control, side effects and appropriate support; by discussing ways of making separate rooms available for infected patients to sleep; and<\/li>\n
• By helping with adherence problems for problematic patients by possibly assisting\u00a0with daily Kanamycin injections for patients who cannot travel to clinics and daily DOTS for tablets or frequent adherence counselling.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

  DWF is already integrating ongoing TB screening in huts and homes, supporting good adherence in TB patients to prevent treatment failure, holding MDR-TB patient support and education groups and community leader education sessions as part of the Health in Every Hut programme.<\/p>\n

  DWF Embedded CHOW team leader, Nomonono Maphoselo, is co-ordinating the linkages with Madwaleni Hospital.<\/p>\n

  For more on the Foundation\u2019s urban aspect of the MDR-TB programme click here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Earlier this year, Foundation staff working in the Health in Every Hut programme met with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[125,113,128,104,140,112,130,129],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Madwaleni-news-e1463657295820.jpg?fit=1226%2C919&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7DEjh-15v","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4789,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/our-cumulative-milestones\/","url_meta":{"origin":4185,"position":0},"title":"Our cumulative milestones","date":"July 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The Donald Woods Foundation (DWF) has achieved notable milestones in its area of operations making a significant difference to the health and well-being of thousands of people. These include: Reducing by half, admission to hospital for hypertension \/ stroke through DWF\u2019s primary healthcare intervention by means of early screening and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Citizenship and active democracy"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/website-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2406,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/exercise-is-medicine\/","url_meta":{"origin":4185,"position":1},"title":"Exercise is medicine","date":"January 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Lilly researcher and Connecting Hearts Abroad 2015 ambassador Randall Dick writes about his experience bringing the message that exercise\u00a0IS\u00a0medicine during his stay with the Donald Woods Foundation at Hobeni. Randall was one of a group of 10 Lilly volunteers who spent two weeks at Hobeni at the Donald Woods Centre\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Centre"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/exercise-girl.jpg?fit=800%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4180,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/dwf-mdr-tb-ambassador-to-feature-in-new-lilly-film\/","url_meta":{"origin":4185,"position":2},"title":"DWF MDR-TB ambassador to feature in new Lilly film","date":"May 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"XDR-TB survivor Xolelwa Joni (left) chats with her elder sister Fezeka Joni (middle) and Thandekile Essien (right), Programme Officer for Lilly SA's MDR-TB Partnership in the yard of her Duncan Village home.\u00a0Photo - Barbara Manning Soon the world will hear the incredible story of former Donald Woods Foundation peer-educator and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/xolelwa_lilly-film-2-1-e1463657187191.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4296,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/dwf-at-world-tb-diabetes-summit-in-bali\/","url_meta":{"origin":4185,"position":3},"title":"DWF at world TB-Diabetes summit in Bali","date":"November 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"6 November 2015 The work of the Donald Woods Foundation featured in a panel at world\u2019s first International Summit on Tuberculosis (TB) and Diabetes aimed at addressing the looming co-epidemic of tuberculosis and diabetes in Bali this week (2-3 November). DWF Programme Manager, Rose Ewing, and the panel discussion themed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Centre"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4308,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/dwf-mdr-tb-partnership-providing-vital-support-in-fight-against-mdr-tb\/","url_meta":{"origin":4185,"position":4},"title":"DWF MDR-TB partnership providing vital support in fight against MDR-TB","date":"December 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"2 December 2015 The benefits of health education programmes for the youth, peer education in overcrowded prisons and the fact that access to available treatment was not always easy for the poor in remote areas were some of the messages received during a tour of DWF multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4283,"url":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/dwf-tackles-drug-resistant-tb-in-the-eastern-cape\/","url_meta":{"origin":4185,"position":5},"title":"DWF tackles drug-resistant TB in the Eastern Cape","date":"August 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"6 August 2015 The Donald Woods Foundation is partnering with Lilly and United Way Worldwide to tackle multi-drug resistant TB in the Eastern Cape. The partnership aims to assist the Department of Health in the effective management of DR-TB in the province, through five strategic programmes: Training and Professional Development;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Donald Woods Foundation"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4185"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.donaldwoodsfoundation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}