Publications
HST provides free electronic access to over 500 health systems research related reports, publications and papers. Close to 300 of these are publications that have been commissioned and funded by the Trust. Topics include among others district systems development, drug supply management, human resource development, informatics, legislation, finance, environmental health, mental health, lessons learnt, nutrition and sexually transmitted diseases / HIV/AIDS. The main publication of the HST is the annual South African Health Review. From 2005 all HST publications will be available in low resolution only. To explore the range of publications HST offers use the Advanced search to search using a variety of criteria.

Introduction

The reported incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the Western Cape, particularly in Cape Town, continues to be amongst the highest in the world, complicated and exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Effective management of TB remains one of the key principles of Provincial and Local Government health services. The increasing recognition that HIV is fuelling the TB epidemic in high HIV prevalence populations and that TB is a leading cause of HIV-related morbidity and mortality, has led to broad multisectoral strategic plans to guide the response to both pandemics.

In Cape Town, TB Control has improved significantly. This report provides an overview of TB control from 1997 to 2003. The purpose of the report is:

• To document the progress of the TB Control Programme in the district over the past seven years
• To acknowledge the outstanding contribution made by all involved in the TB Control Programme, particularly the staff working on a daily basis with people suffering from TB
• To highlight the resources and systems required for the provision of adequate TB services
• To stimulate discussion with other interested parties who can contribute and enrich our efforts to improve TB Control in South Africa
• To inform and influence health policy and planning decisions in TB control.

It is intended that future reports will be integrated to include HIV/AIDS and STI indicators. This will be the last TB report according to the eleven sub-districts and future reports will be according to the new eight sub-districts, which means that subdistrict profiles will change. The Metropole TB Working Group would welcome discussion on this report and invites readers to e-mail responses to: Judy Caldwell (jcaldwel@pgwc.gov.za) Virginia Azevedo (Virginia.Azevedo@capetown.gov.za). For detailed sub-district data, please contact the authors.