The closure of a popular health care facility, Lizo Nobanda TB Centre, has drawn criticism from the Khayelitsha Health Forum (KHF).
The centre, situated in Harare, Khayelitsha, has been regarded as influential in the fight against TB in the community.
It was reportedly closed by the Western Cape Department of Health in October last year.
KHF chair Mzanywa Ndibongo said closure would have negative repercussions for the community. He said the patients will begin to default in their treatment.
Ndibongo said the patients were transferred to Brooklyn Clinic in Cape Town. “The Centre was specialising in patients with MultiDrug Resistant-TB (MDR-TB) and Extensive Drug Resistant-TB (XDR-TB). When a patient is in that stage of a TB she or he needs to be strictly monitored. Brooklyn is too far for them and they have to take a taxi. We need the clinic to be open again,” he said.
Ndibongo said forum members will meet with government officials on Thursday 3 February to try and find a way forward. “Some of their reasons for the closure are the dwindling number of patients coming to the centre and lack of funds,” said Ndibongo. He is adamant that the meeting will yield positive results.
Abulele Dyasi, communications officer for the Khayelitsha Eastern Sub-Structure in the provincial department of health, confirmed that the centre is under their management.
However, she stated that she could not comment further on the closure of the centre. “There is a meeting that the department will have together with the City on Thursday then we will hear the outcomes of that meeting and take it from there,” said Dyasi.
