Johannesburg - A recent survey on the prevalence of tuberculosis in South Africa has found that the country had a TB prevalence rate of 737 infections per 100 000, with the most affected group being mostly men, aged between 35-44 and 65+.
The findings were released on Friday morning by the Human Science Research Council, which worked with the South African Medical Research Council and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases to survey over 55 000 people in all nine provinces and 110 clusters within the provinces.
Dr Sizulu Moyo, a director at the HSRC, said the survey found that in 2018, there were 390 000 positive cases of TB, but only 235 000 had been notified and more than 153 000 had been missed.
She also said two out of three people reported that they did not seek health care, despite experiencing symptoms, while six out of 10 said they were still planning to seek care.
The study also found that a great majority of TB patients mainly sought the care they needed at a community clinic.
“What we found is that South Africa has a high TB burden. The estimated number of cases is higher than the number of cases notified.
“Some of the recommendations are that we need strategies to detect TB among young people.
We can use technology to reach more people.
“We also need to strengthen care and target the elderly,” she said.
Moyo also said there was a high burden on men, but this was not unique to South Africa. She said TB prevention initiatives had to be integrated with men’s health programmes.
She also said that the survey did not test people for HIV, but relied on information submitted by those surveyed. As a result, more than two out of every three people who took part in the survey were HIV negative.
Moyo said screening had to be improved significantly for both HIV positive and negative people.
“We also found people with tb symptoms delay seeking care. We need to increase knowledge and awareness of the symptoms as some did not consider the symptoms serious,” she said.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said the report showed that government needed to increase access and make better use of mobile laboratories to reach areas that were hard to reach.
He said HIV testing also needed to improve, as well as the expansion of chest X-ray tests, while also addressing the issue of stigma related to TB and HIV.
“The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on health services and TB in particular is well documented. A lot of effort will be required to mitigate the negative impact of Covid-19 and still ensure that we attain our set targets. We therefore need to look at innovative ways of providing health services in an integrated manner for efficiency,” he said.
However, although Mkhize commended the work, he called on researchers to include young people below the age of 15 in future surveys as TB was a big problem for children too.
“I commend the work that has been done to share the light. I hope the research community will indulge. We know that children are affected by TB. I hope the work will continue and children below 15 will be included in the future,” said the minister.
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