'Integrated approach needed to medical care in rural communities'
A Durban doctor says if we want public healthcare to work for KwaZulu-Natal communities, there needs to be an integrated approach to treatment.
Nhlakanipho Gumede who treats patients in the northern KZN community of Pholela, near Nkandla, says doctors need to take a person's surroundings and lifestyle into consideration.
Gumede's been speaking at a Department of Health meeting in Greyville.
"I start them on treatment and I take the patient and send them home. Three months down the line, I come to check them and when I recheck them - they still have TB. What has happened. It is because I treated the patient and I didn't treat the patient in the context of the community where they come from. Therefore, they continue having TB," he said.
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