Failure to implement TB prevention strategies is one of the key reasons we still have not made enough progress against tuberculosisThe new TB drug bedaquiline has shown impressive results in trials so far. Picture: 123RF/VIKTOR GRADOW
TB is the world’s biggest infectious killer, felling 1.6-million people in 2017. In SA, its spread has been fuelled by HIV, which makes people more vulnerable to infection. SA had the world’s second highest TB infection rate in 2017, with about 567 cases per 100,000 population. About 132,000 people were newly infected, and 78,000 people died from TB in SA, according to the World Health Organisation .
“Unless we quickly tackle the seedbed of the epidemic — latent TB infection — we stand no chance of removing this health hazard from impoverished communities around the world,” he said.