According to report findings presented by Doctors Without Borders, 15 000 new cases of Drug-Resistant TB are diagnosed in South Africa every year. In recognition of World TB Day on 24 March 2015, Zam’ Impilo Entle Change Agents took to Jabulani Farm and Smash Block community for a vibrant TB awareness campaign. These are communities comprising of mineworkers, ex-mineworkers, farm workers, as well as their families in Thabazimbi, around Amandelbult and Northam platinum mines.

This is an initiative supported by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) with funding from the Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation of the Netherlands to implement the Health and Mobility in the Mining Sector of Southern Africa project. The project is aimed at addressing heath vulnerabilities of current and ex migrant mineworkers, their families and their communities in Southern Africa, with particular focus on mineworker sending, transit and destination communities of South Africa, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland.

Administered by CARE South Africa as Implementing Partners (IPs), Zam’ Impilo Entle Change Agents put on their superhero suits and embarked on an intense outreach operation that involved door-to-door and one-to-one engagements, public activations in local households, markets and taxi rank, sharing information about TB and HIV.

Sticker posters with messaging “TB can be cured, you can prevent it – Your Community, Your Responsibility” were pasted on the walls of locals shops, school, clinic, taxis and other private vehicles, while TB information quiz competitions were conducted and participants were awarded t-shirts, small stickers to paste at their homes.

“The aim is to build capacity with the community and have them know that they can be part of the solution in strengthening the fight against TB. In this particular instance, their living conditions, i.e. limited access to information, healthcare, and inadequate housing, makes them extremely vulnerable to contracting TB. So the messaging was strictly focused on sensitizing them on preventative measures, treatment, and sustainability using little resources they have and what they know now,” says Mr. David Makapela, Migration and Health Project Officer – Health and Mobility in the Mining Sector.

IOM appointed CARE South Africa as an IP in 2014 to implement the TB in the mines project in mining areas such as Thabazimbi and Lephalale. The mining industry is a major contributor to the economies of Southern Africa, either through the extraction of minerals or the provision of labour to neighbouring countries. As mineworkers frequently move between urban and rural areas and across borders, they often encounter difficulties in accessing health care services due to lack of harmonized treatment regimens and cross-border referral mechanisms.

The three year project is implemented by IOM Regional Migration and Health Team in partnership implementing partners VSO, CARE SA, CARe, and Project Pfuneka, and directly responds to the SADC Declaration on TB in the Mining Sector.

For further information, please contact Media and Communications Focal Person – Ntokozo Mahlangu at +2712 423 9613/076 532 8295 email: nmahlangu@iom.int

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