Forty per cent of TB sufferers don’t know they have it

The deputy president, David Mabuza, said according to the results of the latest tuberculosis (TB) prevalence survey report, TB prevalence is 1,6 times higher in men than in women. This was during his keynote message at the World TB Day commemorations in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality’s chambers on March 24.

“The Sanac men’s sector has done commendable work through various platforms in an effort to sensitise men about the importance of fostering health-seeking behaviour. Until we reach and change men’s perspective in every setting, we will never win the battle against TB,” Mabuza explained.

“Out of the estimated 390 000 people infected with the disease, only 60 per cent have been diagnosed. This suggests that there is a large number of people who are walking around with it, but are not on treatment. That is dangerous considering that one person with TB could potentially infect a further 15 people,” he said.

The deputy president called on all South Africans to rally behind national efforts to end TB and scale up the national response through urgently “finding, initiating and retaining TB clients in treatment and care”.

“We should also work hard to regain those who have fallen by the wayside. Each and every one of us has a role to play in the fight to end TB,” said Mabuza.

He added that the potential diversion of priority focus and financial resources away from TB programmes to fund the response to the Covid-19 pandemic, poses serious risks to the consolidation of global efforts to end the disease.

The minister of health, Zweli Mkhize, said, “Across the world, we need to foster and deepen multilateral platforms of collaboration in the fight against TB, Covid-19 and many other disease outbreaks that threaten human lives and pose a catastrophic collapse of the global economy.

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At the heart of this is the genuine desire to eliminate poverty, social disparities and inequalities in order to enhance economic inclusion and shared prosperity. The poor and vulnerable sectors must be able to access universal health coverage so that they can improve the quality of their lives.”

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Various stakeholders attended the event and had a chance to give their presentations on how TB affects them. Anele Yawa, the general secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), handed over a memorandum of grievances to the deputy president before the commemorations started.