Abstract
South Africa is one of twelve countries identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as having a high burden of both Tuberculosis (TB) and Multi-Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB). With approximately 500,000 incident cases of TB per year, South Africa has the third largest TB epidemic in the world, after India and China. As a result, South Africa has adopted the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) for implementation in all clinics in the country. The DOTS approach symbolises a paradigm shift of TB control, where treatment is strictly structured, directly observed and monitored. However, Limpopo Province, particularly clinics in rural environments, are still recording a high number of patients failing to complete their full treatment course, despite the DOTS strategy. This study draws attention to the lived experiences of rural-based TB patients on the DOTS programme in Limpopo Province. The central concern of the study was that numerous interventions adopted by the Department of Health since 1997 to achieve high levels of TB treatment adherence in rural areas were not yielding desired outcomes. The researcher, who is also a senior health practitioner in the province, observed that many TB patients on the DOTS programme were defaulting on their treatment...
M.Cur. (Community Nursing)