The first meeting of the Coordinating Body of the SA TB Caucus was held on Friday 23 November. The meeting was co-chaired by Hon. Dunjwa and Hon. Dlamini and a number of decisions were made about the format and work of the caucus going forward.
The caucus has already shown it’s value. Hon. Dlamini called the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHRA) to a parliamentary committee meeting earlier this month to explain the status of the licensing of a paediatric formulation for TB. SAHRA announced that it had just licensed two formulations, meaning that it is now up to the Department of Health to procure the formulations and roll them out. The sooner this happens, the sooner children with TB will have access to child-friendly TB treatment.
Prof Harry Hausler, CEO, explained the history of the Global TB Caucus, the role of the secretariat and how parliamentarians can assist the response to TB. Phumlani Ximiya of the National Department of health gave a presentation on the status of TB in the world and in South Africa.
The meeting was a very welcome start to the important work of the caucus.
