JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – A significant three-year tuberculosis (TB) screening campaign, aimed at implementing screening and testing for the disease among employees in South Africa’s mining sector, has been launched by the industry’s stakeholders.
This included the departments of Health and Mineral Resources; unions, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union, the National Union of Mineworkers, Solidarity and UASA; and the Chamber of Mines (CoM).
The Masoyise iTB initiative formed part of a broader national campaign announced by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year on World TB Day under the theme ‘Ending South Africa’s TB epidemic: Accelerating our Response in Key Populations’.
CoM affiliate companies would, through this campaign, ensure that every employee was screened and tested for TB each year from 2016 to 2018. Most companies already had comprehensive TB screening, testing, treatment and contact tracing, which were aligned with World Health Organisation practices, in place.
“This campaign seeks to take the work that companies already do further. Through this initiative, we will work with the Department of Mineral Resources to assist smaller companies in extending screening and testing to contractors’ employees, while investigating implementing contact tracing to off-mine communities in which employees live.
“We are also in discussion with the National Health Laboratory Services on how access to TB and HIV diagnostics can be improved,” CoM president Mike Teke stated.
At the end of 2014, members of the CoM employed around 84% of the 466 000 employees in the mining industry.