Miss SA Tamaryn Green reveals she is a TB survivor

Miss South Africa Tamaryn Green has revealed that her focus will be on Tuberculosis (TB) as her official year of reign campaign.

ALSO READ: Tamaryn Green Crowned The Miss SA 2018

Tamaryn Green also spoke publicly for the first time about her own battle with TB in 2015. She was diagnosed with TB three years ago but failed to disclose her story because of the stigma associated with it. This made the process of diagnosis and treatment much harder and more traumatic for her.

“It took me three years to talk about my story. I could have avoided a lot of trauma speaking about it sooner. I am now in the process of dealing with it. I want to encourage people not to be afraid to speak up about their problems and get the help they need. It is the only way we are going to beat TB,” – Green said at a press conference.

Through her #breakthestigma campaign, TB survivor Green, will be lending her support to raise awareness of global and national TB campaigns, with the hope that people suffering from tuberculosis will come out of the shadows and are not stigmatised.

Green was a sixth-year medical student at UCT when she took the Miss South Africa crown earlier this year.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnEaJEyldOr/?taken-by=tamaryngreen

According to Miss SA official website, Green will run her campaign in conjunction with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the National Department of Health. WHO’s End TB campaign is aiming to conquer the global TB epidemic, with targets to reduce TB deaths by 95% and to cut new cases by 90% between 2015 and 2035, and to ensure that no family is burdened with catastrophic expenses due to TB. It has set interim milestones for 2020, 2025 and 2030.

Present at Green’s TB campaign launch were Dr Nketeko Mkhondo from WHO and Phumlani Ximiya from the Department of Health who took part in a panel discussion with Green.

Image Courtesy: Twitter.com/tamaryngreen

Leave a Comment