TB researcher wins health contest

The Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA on Tuesday congratulated Dr Tumi Semete on winning a global health-contest sponsored by the Bill Gates Foundation.

"Semete, a researcher at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Cape Town won a grant for a proposal to use nanotechnology to save the lives of tuberculosis patients who forget to take their pills," said spokesman Asanda Fongqo.

"Denosa appreciates the breakthrough by Dr Semete in the continuing fight against TB." He said they were confident that the research that Semete would embark on would be effective.

Semete told the Sunday Times that TB sufferers needed to remember to take their drugs every day for six to nine months, and if they did not it could result in complications and death. The Sunday Times reported that the Gates Foundation said Semete's solution involved developing tiny "sticky particles" which would ensure that TB drugs stuck directly to infected cells, where the drug is released slowly so that patients don't need to remember their pills. – (Sapa, May 2009)

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