"WELCOME BACK" CAMPAIGN GETS PEOPLE BACK ON TREATMENT

In support of the Mthatha residents who were heavily affected by floods in June, WSU’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, hosted a medical outreach at the Northcrest Community Hall, aimed at reconnecting displaced communities with essential healthcare services.

The outreach, held in collaboration with the Civic Centre Clinic, aligned with the faculty’s ongoing engagement efforts of building partnerships between the university and the provincial health department in the OR Tambo District.

According to WSU lecturer and clinical governance technician, Dr Bomikazi Majeke, the campaign, themed “Welcome Back to Care”, was mainly inspired by those patients who were “lost to follow – up” (LTFU) – referring to patients who stopped attending medical appointments or stopped receiving and taking treatment.

“This relates especially to TB and HIV patients. Our desired impact and outcome is to have these patients either start or re-initiate their ARV and TB treatment and link them back to their local clinics,” said Majeke.

Elaborating further on the campaign, Eastern Cape Clinical Supervisor, Ntombi Zuma, said that though old, the campaign has been upscaled and is ongoing.

“We understand that there might be various reasons that contribute to the LTFU, one of those being the recent floods, transport, and others, therefore through the provincial health MEC’s office, we’ll continue with these outreaches and other support care programs,” said Zuma.

Civic Centre Services operational manager, Koliswa Nkala, said they fully supported this special campaign as it aligned with their “Buyelekhaya” concept

“We want everyone in OR Tambo to go the nearest facility and get tested and get treatment as soon as possible if tested positive. We still plan on visiting supermarkets like Spar and garages, just like we did with nearby taxi ranks of Northcrest and Maiden Farm,” said Nkala.

Representing the TB/HIV Care team, social worker Khutala Bebeza, took the opportunity to educate on the importance of mental and emotional health and the overall well-being of patients.

“We sometimes tend to forget the mental part and only focus on the physical aspect. And yet, mental health is the most important as it provides a holistic approach,” she said.

As a support function to the district’s clinics, Bebeza added that they offer counselling and treatment literacy services and the facilitating of HIV status disclosures to underage patients. This assists parents who struggle with honesty and transparency to their young ones.

Majeke concluded that the initiative was the brainchild of the Public Health Head of Department, Professor Sibusiso Nomatshila and the Ward Councillor, Andile Majeke.             

By Thandeka Mgqibi