SA to conduct TB Prevalence Survey

South Africa is conducting a TB Prevalence Survey to establish the true burden of the disease and ultimately strengthen TB control in the country.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), South Africa ranks among 22 high-burden countries and contributes to about 80 percent of the total global burden of all TB cases.

The Human Sciences Research Council, Medical Research

Council, and National institute of Communicable Diseases will conduct the survey.

The 2017 TB Prevalence Survey will be held nationally, with a representative sample of approximately 55 000 adults identified, sampled from 110 population clusters, and will take about 24 months to complete.

The survey kicked off in eThekwini Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, in August.

The Department of Health said it has planned various social mobilisation activities intended to reach out to communities and encourage them to participate in the survey.

“Clearly identifiable fieldworkers will be deployed into selected areas to interview and collect data,” the department said.

The Department of Health has recorded successes in TB control, such as routine TB cases screening and the launch of a massive TB screening campaign, which has seen over

500 000 people being screened, as well as scaling up rapid diagnostic technology (Xpert MTB/RIF) for improved diagnosis of TB.