But his treatment repeatedly failed and he ended up on toxic medication for double that period. The father of one from Khayelitsha in Cape Town also lost part of a lung."Every time I swallowed those drugs I felt sicker ... like I was slowly committing suicide due to the terrible side-effects such as nausea and drowsiness," he said.
Now that he is cured, after being given the newer drugs bedaquiline and delamanid as part of a Doctors Without Borders programme, Makanda has become an activist for more affordable TB medication. He has just returned from India where he attended the Union World Conference on Lung Health, the largest gathering of clinicians, health workers, policymakers, researchers and advocates discussing TB in the developing world.
Makanda, who took part in protests during the meeting, is responding to his conviction that while countries such as SA have access to newer TB drugs, many governments cannot afford them.
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