The National Health Department plans to expand its drug-resistant TB regimen programme to hospitals in the Eastern Cape.

It launched the first part of the programme at the Jose Pearson TB Hospital in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro on Friday.

It is a shorter treatment regimen for people with drug-resistant tuberculosis.

The National Health Department’s professor Norbet Ndjeka says this is a milestone for TB patients.

“Plans are in place to expand to other parts of Eastern Cape, today there’s a team that is having a TB training in East London, the Buffalo City will be next. The drugs are available and the rest of the province will be part of this programme within the next one or two months. We anticipate a cure rate of 90% with this regimen that’s why we are really excited.”

Launch of new, shorter treatment regimen for drug-resistant TB: Prof Norbert Ndjeka

In August, a collaborative research project between the Walter Sisulu and North West universities made a breakthrough in developing a tuberculosis vaccine.

Researchers conducted three different immunogenicity studies in two animal models where the vaccine showed 100% protection.

Tuberculosis kills more than 55 000 South Africans every year, an average of 153 people a day. – Reporting by Olwethu Keneilwe