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South Africa launches first National TB Prevalence Survey

Xinhua, July 11, 2016 Adjust font size:

South Africa on Monday launched its first National TB Prevalence Survey which will enable the country to better measure its performance as it responds to the epidemic.

"We expect the survey to be concluded within two years, and look forward to getting a truer indication of our TB burden," Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said at the launch ceremony in Lephalale, Limpopo Province.

This survey will be undertaken by the Department of Health supported by the South African Medical Research Council and the Human Sciences Research Council.

The survey was launched in response to a call by the WHO which has always urged countries to undertake a national TB prevalence survey at least once every five years.

To date, South Africa has relied on estimates provided by the WHO on the country's TB incidence and prevalence.

South Africa will continue to mobilize more resources to fight TB, Ramaphosa said.

"Government, with support from technical partners, conducted investment cases for TB and HIV which aimed to investigate exactly what we need to do to stop TB and HIV infections and mortality," he said.

This includes continuing with the active case finding campaign, doing better at screening people at the highest risk of TB, and diagnosing and treating 90 percent of all TB cases.

"If we do this, we can reduce TB deaths by 35 percent by 2020 and by 95% by 2035. We can reduce incidence by 20 percent in 2020 and by 90 percent in 2035," said Ramaphosa.

These interventions will therefore massively reduce both the burden of TB in South Africa and, in the long run, the amount of money spent on diagnosis and treatment, he said.

"In short, these investment cases found that by achieving three key targets we can significantly reduce the burden of TB and HIV," Ramaphosa said.

South Africa ranks among the 22 high burden countries that collectively contribute approximately 80 percent of the total global burden of all TB cases.

In 2015, the country launched a massive TB screening campaign to detect and combat TB infections, targeting key vulnerable populations with a high degree of susceptibility to TB infections. Since then over 400,000 TB screenings were conducted on inmates in correctional facilities. Nearly 5,000 of those tested were confirmed to have TB.

"We will never win the battle against HIV and AIDS if we do not also prioritize the detection and treatment of TB," said Ramaphosa. Endit