24 Mar 2012

SOUTH AFRICA / TUBERCULOSIS

WHO and Stop TB Partnership said today that Tuberculosis (TB) often goes undiagnosed in children from birth to 15 years old because they lack access to health services – or because the health workers are unprepared to recognize the signs and symptoms of TB in this age group. In South Africa alone, close to 50 thousand children get TB every year and many more are believed to go undiagnosed. WHO

Posted at: March 24, 2012 12:02 am

Duration: 05:20

Available in: SD, HD

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Full script

SOUTH AFRICA / TUBERCULOSIS
TRT: 5.20
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: RECENT, SOUTH AFRICA

SHOTLIST:

1. Various shots, children playing with skipping rope, singing
2. Med shot, young girl looking ahead
3. Med shot, young girl sitting on a stairway
4. Med shot, mother and baby standing by the entrance to their home
5. Med shot, man looking ahead 
6. Wide shot, neighbourhood
7. Close up, 12-year-old Imelda Mesia writing
8. Pan right, Brooklyn Chest Hospital
9. Tracking shot, Imelda and her friend Yonela Ndamane at the clinic with a nurse instructing them on how to take their medicine
10. Close up, Imealda
11. SOUNDBITE (Language unknown) Imelda Mesia, 12-year-old, TB patient:
"I miss them so much. I long for them and they long for me."
12. Various shots, Professor Robert Gie, childhood TB expert,
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Robert Gie, childhood TB expert, Stellenbosch University, South Africa:
"The treatment of tb is a long drawn out treatment of six months and we would dearly love to have new drugs which would shorten the treatment."
14. Wide shot, Imelda and her friend Yonela Ndamane walking
15. Close up, cup being filled with pills
16. Various shots, Imelda and her friend Yonela Ndamane at the clinic with the nurse handing them their medicine
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Yonela Ndamane, Infectious TB patient:
"I have to take a lot of pills and they give me injections."
18. Close up, Yonela hands holding his pills
19. Various shots, nurse giving pills
20. Various shots, Paediatric ward at the clinic
21 Various shots, Dr. Gerald Morkel at the Paediatric ward
22. Various shots, nurse with child
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Gerald Morkel, Paediatrician:
"It's difficult for them to swallow five, six, seven, tablets."
24. Various shots, pregnant women
25. Various shots, Paediatric ward at the clinic
26. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Robert Gie, childhood TB expert, Stellenbosch University, South Africa:
"Young children under the age of about one year have about five to ten-fold greater chance of developing severe tuberculosis than older children, and so they are much more vulnerable, but are not receiving the attention they deserve."
27. Various shots, Paediatric ward at the clinic
28. SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Robert Gie, childhood TB expert, Stellenbosch University, South Africa:
"What we'd really like is a new diagnostic test which is easy to administer and would give us quick results."
29.Various shots, market
30.Various shots, slum with children playing hands 
31. Various shots, Paediatric ward at the clinic
32. Various shots, Sheila Mkoka with her TB recovered child
33. SOUNDBITE (English) Sheila Mkoka TB recoverd baby:
"I feel free and i am happy because i took my child early – and he is sitting next to me – and he is not sick."
34. Various shots, children in slum
35. Various shots, Imelda and Yonela playing softball

STORYLINE:

These children spend their afternoons doing what they love, playing carefree games, how life should be for children, yet this community is one of many in South Africa where TB is rife.

Instead of playing with her friends, 12-year-old Imelda Mesia has been staying at the nearby Brooklyn Chest Hospital for the past five months. She's being treated for TB. It's been tough living away from her family.

SOUNDBITE (Language unknown) Imelda Mesia, 12 year old, TB patient:
"I miss them so much. I long for them and they long for me."

Childhood TB expert, Professor Robert Gie, from Stellenbosch University near Cape Town, would like to see shorter hospital stays and better treatment.

SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Robert Gie, childhood TB expert, Stellenbosch University, South Africa:
"The treatment of tb is a long drawn out treatment of six months and we would dearly love to have new drugs which would shorten the treatment."

The World Health Organisation's Stop TB Partnership is on a drive to get better treatment for children like Imelda and her friend, Yonela Ndamane. He's contracted the more virulent Multidrug-Resistant TB and will have to stay here for at least 18 months.  He's also taking a battery of pills.

SOUNDBITE (English) Yonela Ndamane, Infectious TB patient:
"I have to take a lot of pills and they give me injections."

TB medication has not changed for decades. The drugs are hard, bitter and difficult to swallow, can make children nauseous and in extreme cases lead to loss of hearing.

Paediatrician at the hospital, Gerald Morkel, says children and their mothers need constant encouragement to keep going with medication for their babies.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Gerald Morkel, Paediatrician:
"It's difficult for them to swallow five, six, seven tablets."

Pregnant women as well as babies and toddlers are particularly vulnerable to TB, and have been neglected in research.  Babies are often prone to severe TB, like TB meningitis.

SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Robert Gie, childhood TB expert, Stellenbosch University, South Africa:
"Young children under the age of about one year have about five to ten-fold greater chance of developing severe tuberculosis than older children, and so they are much more vulnerable, but are not receiving the attention they deserve."

Babies have to endure uncomfortable and traumatic tests to diagnose for TB. Researchers and the Stop TB Partnership are advocating for change.

SOUNDBITE (English) Professor Robert Gie, childhood TB expert, Stellenbosch University, South Africa:
"What we'd really like is a new diagnostic test which is easy to administer and would give us quick results."

Here in Cape Town, It would help people out in the community – from this area to Khayelitsha on the other side of town.

The WHO and Stop TB Partnership are calling on public health programmes, doctors and nurses to ensure that children are diagnosed and treated for TB. Medication and care has made the world of difference for Sheila Mkoka. Her child, Elam, is back home from hospital and fully recovered from TB.

SOUNDBITE (English) Sheila Mkoka TB recoverd baby:
"I feel free and i am happy because i took my child early – and he is sitting next to me – and he is not sick."

More commitment and a greater push in all countries for improved testing, child-friendly medication and shorter treatment could lead to children living healthier lives.