Khayelitsha Residents to Benefit from New TB and HIV Integrated Wing at Nolungile Clinic | Western Cape Government

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Khayelitsha Residents to Benefit from New TB and HIV Integrated Wing at Nolungile Clinic

22 November 2010

The City of Cape Town, in partnership with the Provincial Health Department, officially opened the new TB/HIV integrated wing at the Nolungile primary health care facility in Khayelitsha today, 23 November 2010.

The Nolungile Clinic is a busy facility which the City has extended to accommodate an integrated TB and HIV/Aids unit at a cost of one point twp million rand (R1.2 m). The extension has brought together clinicians working in both TB and HIV/Aids care programmes to provide overall care for patients affected by both illnesses.

"This integration reduces unnecessary duplication of health resources and ensures that a patient's time is not wasted. Now there is one patient, one folder, one health care worker and one appointment - a far more efficient system which can better serve our patients," said City Health Manager for Khayelitsha, Dr. Virginia De Azevedo.

Since the new wing was completed in late 2009, City and Provincial Health staff have been working hard to improve systems for the treatment of TB and HIV/Aids, doing away with the traditional 'silo' approach.

"Despite initial teething problems, great progress has been made and the unit is functioning more as an integrated service, placing the patient's needs at the centre of operations," said Dr. De Azevedo.

"The City, Provincial Government of the Western Cape and various non-governmental organisation partners, continue to explore and evaluate various models of TB and HIV/Aids integration in a quest to find the most suitable and holistic approach. In this case the 'one size fits all' approach does not work, and we are instead actively promoting a culture of learning by doing and facilitating the sharing of best practices," said the Executive Director for City Health, Dr. Ivan Bromfield.

In 2009, the Nolungile Clinic registered close to one thousand, four hundred (1 400) TB patients for treatment, of which sixty-three (63) were Multi Drug Resistant TB cases. A total of five hundred (500) patients visit the facility ever day for daily observed TB treatment. All TB patients are offered HIV testing and all HIV positive patients are assessed for eligibility for Anti-Retroviral treatment. Approximately eighty (80) new cases are enrolled on ARVs every month and by the end of October, three thousand, six hundred and ten (3 610) patients were on ARV care, of which two hundred and forty-seven (247) were children. This year the Nolungile Clinic has already distributed almost one million male condoms both at the facility and within the surrounding areas.

In Khayelitsha, all health facilities offer ARVs and the seventeen thousand, one hundred and sixty-seven (17 167) people on ARV care can access medication and care at eleven (11) different sites.

Nolungile Clinic also has a separate Youth Clinic on its premises providing youth-friendly services. It was rated the sixth (6th) best performing clinic in the metro at the last audit of priority health programmes in August 2010.

Issued by:
Communication Department
City of Cape Town

Media Enquiries: 

Dr. Virginia De Azevedo
Manager
Health - Khayelitsha Management
City of Cape Town
Tel: 021 360 1258