Sibongile waits for her appointment at the Town 2 Clinic, Kuyasa, Khayelitsha, Western Cape, South Africa.

Simbongile’s current DR-TB regimen: bedaquiline, linezolid, clofazimine, terizidone, levofloxacin, pyrazinamide.

Simbongile Xesha

“Last year, end- September, I started coughing and didn’t want to eat. My partner had XDR-TB so I probably caught it from him. He passed away in May this year.
I brought myself to the clinic and within a week, in October 2015 I started full treatment for XDR-TB, with monthly supplies of drugs from my local clinic, which included bedaquiline.
I live with my mum and two sisters, and our children.
I know from Dr Jenny that many patients need bedaquiline. I didn’t have to wait and was taking bedaquiline from the first day of treatment. I think that’s why my sputum started to change so quickly. I stick to my treatment same time every day and I go to a support group.
Today I work as a cashier at a frozen yoghurt place in Khayelitsha. I feel great. I’ve been taking bedaquiline for six months now. I take all the tablets at the same time. The medication makes me very nauseous and knocks me out for one or two hours. But it makes me strong too.”