SA's TB treatment programs failing
TB cure rates in South Africa have remained stubbornly low - about 60 percent nationally, but less than 50 percent in many districts. A number of studies presented at the national TB conference in Durban this week looked at some of the reasons why South Africa's programme is failing.
Directly Observed Treatment Short-course (DOTS), in which community health workers, known as DOTS supporters, literally watch tuberculosis (TB) patients swallow their daily medication, has been promoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the gold standard for TB treatment and forms the cornerstone of South Africa's TB
