Section Maligeni never thought he could have TB. When he started coughing in May 2016 “he recalls”, he thought it was just a mild cough or maybe common flu. Without the knowledge of the TB symptoms, he was never on the lookout for it even when he got ill. These factors, and the delay in diagnosis, led to Maligeni’s TB becoming life-threatening.

“When I started coughing I got antibiotics from the doctor for a dry itchy cough. I thought my illness was just a mild one and that the cough would get better. Over the next three months the cough got worse and I began to feel tired, dizzy, sweating and had lost weight so I went back to the clinic where they did a sputum test and I was diagnosed with multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB. I was then hospitalised and put on a 2 year treatment.

As I began to feel better I was sent home and would visit the clinic regularly to get my medication. Maligeni met one of ACHAP’s TB Care project volunteer Ms Dimakatso Dube at Lapologang clinic in Francistown who offered her services. As a volunteer, Dube offers her support services by visiting TB patients at their homes and ensures that they take their medication on time.

While on treatment Maligeni started having hearing challenges which resulted in him losing a sense of hearing, he now hopes to recover the loss of his hearing and he is happy to be completing his treatment this year in August 2018 and feels better than before.