South Africa should forcibly isolate patients infected with a highly drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis to stop it spreading on the Aids-hit continent, researchers said yesterday.
South Africa’s outbreak of extreme drug resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB), which has killed at least 74 people in several months, may force authorities to override patients’ rights in favour of the general public’s health, the study in the journal PLoS Medicine said.
“XDR-TB represents a major threat to public health. If the only way to manage it is to forcibly confine, then it needs to be done,” said Jerome Singh, study co-author and lawyer at Durban’s Centre for the Aids Programme of Research in SA…
“Ultimately in such crises, the interests of public health must prevail over the rights of the individual.”
South Africa has logged almost 400 cases of XDR-TB, which is virtually impervious to treatment by most common TB drugs, and an unprecedented 30 new cases are diagnosed every month, according to the study… Cape Times
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