A THIRD of tuberculosis (TB) infections in Southern Africa are linked to mining activities and recent studies estimate that 3 to 7 percent of miners are becoming ill with TB each year (TIMS Epidemiological Study,2012).
Health Times Reporter in Johannesburg, South Africa
To address these challenges, media practitioners from 12 SADC member countries converged yesterday, 27 April 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa for a two-days capacity building workshop to enhance informed reporting on TB-related issues including TB in the mining sector at the invitation of the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) in partnership with SADC and the African Union Development Agency.
TB is fuelled by poor working and living conditions related to the mining industry. Exposure to silica dust in the certain mining environment can lead to silicosis, a condition which is a known risk factor of the development of the TB disease.
Justin Mahimbo, advocacy, and communication officer for ECSA-HC said addressing the burden of TB in the region require a multi-sectoral and multi-country approach which involves key partners and stakeholders such as journalists.
Due to less participation of the influential stakeholders in ending TB, ECSA-HC has organised this media capacity building workshop with the aim to increase meaningful engagement of journalists so that you can effectively play critical role in TB awareness raising among public and especially to key population and advocate for sustainable response to TB amongst miners, ex-miners, and peri-mining communities,” said Mahimbo.
In Africa, 2 460 000 TB cases were recorded in 2020 with a 56 percent TB treatment coverage and 22 percent mortality ratio (WHO,2020).
TB remains one of the world’s greatest killers with 9 countries in Southern Africa being among the top 30 high-burden countries.
Dr Miriam Urasa, senior TB officer at ECSA-HC challenged journalists to be champions of disseminating correct information about TB and create demand for the services.
“Journalists are critical in changing the narrative and policy for TB services; hence you are critical stakeholders. Not much is being reported on TB and the questions we need to ask ourselves are: What are the gaps that we need to talk about around TB? And what are we doing to make sure that everyone who needs TB services are accessing them,” reiterated Dr Urasa.
