THE national Department of Health has admitted that TB has not received as much attention as Covid-19 and cancer.
Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading infectious disease that claims 1,5 million lives globally each year. This year's World TB Day was commemorated on 24 March but not many people knew about it.
Nothing much was shown on TV or said on radio despite it being the deadliest disease in Mzansi.
"TB is the leading cause of deaths in SA, yet it doesn't receive the same public attention as Covid-19. We urge people to go for regular TB screening and testing as part of health screening.
"This will enable the healthcare workers to effectively treat TB patients who present signs and symptoms at health facilities on time," said health spokesman Foster Mohale.
TB is spread through the air when people with lung TB cough, sneeze or spit.
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A person needs to inhale only a few germs to become infected.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), every year, 10 million people around the world fall ill with TB, with about 360 000 in South Africa.
It’s estimated that between 120 000 and 150 000 are never diagnosed.
"We also remind people that TB is not a death sentence. It is curable if you take full treatment accordingly," said Mohale.
He said there were hospitals across the country that dealt specifically with TB.
Mohale could not provide information about the number of active patients, saying the provincial governments had such information.
According to the first national TB prevalence survey that started in 2017 with the results becoming available in 2020, it showed that South Africa has a far higher number of people with TB than previously thought. It also showed that many people are living with TB but have not been diagnosed or treated.
According to TBFACTS.ORG, it is estimated that about 80% of the population of South Africa is infected with TB bacteria, the vast majority of whom have latent TB rather than active TB disease.
The highest prevalence of latent TB, estimated at 88%, has been found among people in the age group 30 to 39 years old living in townships and informal settlements.
In 2019 a total of 58 000 people died of TB. Of these, it's estimated that 36 000 were HIV positive.
The Eastern Cape, KZN and the Western Cape are the provinces which had the highest incident rates in South Africa with reported rates of 692 685 and 681 per 100 000, respectively, for 2015.
