TB takes back seat in Covid pandemic fight

THIS World Tuberculosis (TB) Awareness Day, health practitioners are reminding the public that the fight against the TB epidemic should not be relegated amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

On this day in 1882, Dr Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes TB, now commemorated annually as World TB Day.

This year’s theme is “The Clock is Ticking”, which expresses the urgency with which global leaders should act to eradicate TB.

According to Stop TB Partnership, 12 months of Covid-19 eliminated 12 years of progress made in the fight against TB.

According to its latest data, showing nine countries with the most TB cases (60% of the global TB burden), a drastic decline was seen in diagnosis and treatment for 2020, ranging from 16% to 41% – averaging 23%.

The decline brought the overall number of people diagnosed and treated for TB in those countries back to statistics seen in 2008.

Data from South Africa and India shows people co-infected with TB and Covid-19 have a three times higher mortality than people infected with TB alone.

Family Centre for Research with Ubuntu director Mark Cotton said: “We are concerned that both TB and HIV might remain undiagnosed or treated for longer.

“Anyone exposed to a person with TB should be checked … especially for people living with HIV, TB prevention therapy should be given once active TB has been ruled out.”

Last month, the Health Department launched a self-screening app called TB HealthCheck, which allows people to screen for TB.

South Africa’s National TB Prevalence Survey has estimated that about 390 000 people live with TB, with almost 40% undiagnosed or untreated.