RESEARCH ARTICLE


Public Health Care Practitioner’s Reflections on Tuberculosis Patient’s Perspectives on Factors Influencing their Adherence to the Directly Observed Treatment Short-Course



Pamela Naidoo*
University of the Western Cape, Department of Psychology, Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535, Western Cape, South Africa.


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Creative Commons License
Observed Treatment Short-Course Pamela et al.; Licensee Bentham Open

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the University of the Western Cape, Department of Psychology, Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535, Western Cape, South Africa; E-mails: pnaidoo@uwc.ac.za


Abstract

The high prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) in South Africa is well established. TB, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), and Auto Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) co-exist, which contributes to the high incidence, prevalence, and recurrent infection rate of TB. Despite the implementation of the Directly Observed Treatment Short Course (DOTS) strategy, a World Health Organisation (WHO) initiative to stop the spread of the disease by 2015, TB continues to threaten the health of many, especially those in under-resourced, communities. TB patients’ adherence to the treatment programme (DOTS) is vital to the reduction of the re-infection rate and the prevention of new cases. Health care practitioner’s commitment and professional engagement within a patient-centred health care model is essential to the success of the DOTS initiative.