LIFESTYLE NEWS - South Africa’s plan to drastically reduce its TB burden by testing 5 million people over the next 12 months is an ambitious one. And if the National Department of Health hopes to achieve this goal, it needs to navigate some of the serious challenges in the health system, says the TB Accountability Consortium in its latest State of TB Report.
The consortium has launched its fourth State of TB in South Africa report as the country joins global commemorations of World TB Day. Titled From crisis to opportunity: accelerating testing to end TB, the report interrogates the National Department’s ambitious plan to end TB in South Africa.
It flags some of the major issues on this path. And it calls for improved oversight of month to month TB data through a public-facing TB data dashboard and increased funding for TB in the District Health Programme Grant to ensure national coordination and improved provincial and programme performance.
In South Africa, TB remains the country’s leading health challenge, with 270 000 people estimated to be infected each year and 56000 dying annually.
According to the National Department of Health, of these people estimated to have had TB in South Africa only 76% were notified and on treatment. This means that there were more than 60 000 deemed missing.
World TB Day 2025 means that South Africa now only has 10 years to meet the first set of goals set by the World Health Organisation in its End TB strategy. These include increasing its treatment coverage rate by 13% by getting those missing patients onto treatment and reducing TB deaths by 46 000 per year.
With global TB target pressures looming, the National Department of Health has launched its End TB campaign announcing its plan to test 5 million people for TB over the next year.
The campaign is closely tied to its HIV Close the Gap campaign which plans to find an additional 1.1million people with HIV and initiate them onto treatment. Just under 60% of people who live with HIV are also co- infected with TB underscoring the importance of the links between the two campaigns for South Africa to meet these global targets.
TBAC Programme Director Russell Rensburg notes that civil society fully supports the National Department of Health in its efforts to end TB by launching the ambitious goal of testing 5 million people this year.
“But we want to be cognisant of the challenges that exist in the health system that need to be attended to. This includes finding the missing patients in the system and sorting out the technicalities and difficulties around testing,” he adds.
“As always, our report is intended to give policymakers an idea of the biggest issues on the TB landscape, along with some guidance on what is needed to address them. Equally important is the need to capacitate the civil society advocates who will take up the fight on the ground with information that can guide their activities in the field,” notes Rensburg in the report.
Deputy Health Minister Dr Joe Phaahla will officially launch South Africa’s End TB campaign in Ugu in KwaZulu-Natal today.
The Consortium is a collective of organisations fighting the scourge of TB in South Africa’s public health sector, made up of advocates, activists, community leaders and researchers.
Download the full report here: https://bit.ly/4hVRGMV
For more information or to set up an interview, contact: TBAC Communications officer Aphelele Buqwana on 0846678162/abuqwana@rhap.org.za RHAP Communications Officer Palesa Chidi 0786250511/ Tchidi@rhap.org.za
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