March is Tuberculosis (TB) awareness month; we must understand TB and how to treat it.

Here are 10 things you need to know about TB in South Africa:

1. TB is a contagious infection that usually attacks the lungs and is caused by bacteria (Mycobacterium tuberculosis). It is curable and preventable.

2. South Africa has one of the highest TB burdens in the world, with an estimated incidence of 554 per 100,000 population in 2020

3. TB is the leading cause of death among people living with HIV in South Africa, accounting for 61 per 100,000 population in 2020.

4. South Africa also has one of the highest rates of drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) in the world, with 6 800 cases of rifampicin-resistant or multidrug-resistant TB (RR/MDR-TB) and 733 cases of pre-extensively drug-resistant TB (pre-XDR-TB) diagnosed in 2019.

5. The treatment success rate for RR/MDR-TB in South Africa was 65% in 2018, higher than the global average of 57%. The treatment success rate for pre-XDR-TB was 60% in 2018, which is also higher than the worldwide average of 47%.

6. South Africa has adopted the World Health Organisation’s End TB Strategy, which aims to reduce TB deaths by 95% and TB incidence by 90% by 2035.

7. South Africa has committed to the United Nations High-Level Meeting on TB targets, which include diagnosing and treating 1 023 800 TB cases and 54 000 DR-TB cases and providing preventive therapy to 2 676 800 people at risk of TB by 2022.

8. South Africa has implemented several innovative interventions to improve TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment, such as the use of Xpert MTB/RIF, a rapid molecular test that can detect TB and rifampicin resistance in two hours; the introduction of new drugs and shorter regimens for DR-TB; the scale-up of household contact tracing and screening; and the integration of TB and HIV services.

9. South Africa conducted the first national TB prevalence survey in 2018, which found that the TB prevalence was 737 per 100,000 people, higher than the previous estimates based on notifications. The survey also revealed that 58% of the TB cases were undiagnosed, indicating the need to improve case finding and linkage to care.

10. South Africa has established a national TB dashboard, which provides real-time data on TB indicators at national, provincial and district levels to monitor and evaluate the TB response and identify gaps and challenges.

Source:

(1) Tuberculosis – NICD. https://www.nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z-index/tuberculosis-general/. 

(2) NATIONAL TB PRIORITIES – Department of Health. https://www.health.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/BRIEFING-SESSION-OCTOBER-2021.pdf. 

(3) Tuberculosis (TB) | WHO | Regional Office for Africa. https://www.afro.who.int/health-topics/tuberculosis-tb. 

(4) en.wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis.