South Africa – Prison
Image: David Harrison / The Union
Because of overcrowding and poor living conditions, mines and jails are considered breeding grounds for TB – South Africa’s biggest killer. To solve this issue, the Aurum Institute, TBHIVCare and RightToCare started screening inmates in South Africa’s Correctional Services.
Using Delft’s digital X-rays and CAD4TB, a total of 360,000 inmates will be screened over a period of 1.5 years, making this project the largest active TB screening project in Africa to date. Of the project’s six machines, five are installed in OneStopTB vans that will visit all of the 95 correctional facilities in South Africa.
One is a stationary digital X-ray for the largest facility, the Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. Pollsmoor, in the outskirts of Cape Town, is one of the oldest prisons in South Africa and has housed several other liberation-era heroes including Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and Nelson Mandela. The inmates will be screened at a rate of around 200 per X-ray machine per day. The pay-per-image financial construction chosen for this removes the need for considerable initial investments, which is often the biggest hurdle.
Tuberculosis screening has become a part of the routine in the prison. At least 100 inmates are screened daily. The TB screening programme effectively fights the spread of the disease and the Pollsmoor’s prisoners are tested and treated for tuberculosis much faster. Watch the SABC report on the Pollsmoor Prison TB programme below.