TB callers talk openly: Doctor

National

Most callers to the bmobile Vodafone TB toll-free information line service ask open and straight forward questions compared to those using HIV toll- free line established a decade ago, project coordinator Dr Ann Clarke says.
“We haven’t had many calls yet. But here are few callers asking common questions. They ask about what they should do, should they be concerned and the interesting thing about the info line is that the HIV info line that we used to run was very successful.
“But HIV is a sexually transmitted infection, coughing is much more public; it’s about breathing though, it’s not as secretive and it’s not as private so people are less embarrassed to talk about it.
“They are asking very direct questions about what to do and where to go,” Clarke said.
“And with HIV there is a lot of confusion and stigma and discrimination but its brand new so we hope that it will continue to help people access reliable information and where to go and the names of clinics and where they are and what they can do about it.”