
Image: Chris Frey
SA is one of the countries that will pay a heavy price as a result of Covid-19, not only due to the economic losses the country has experienced, but also because the leading killer disease tuberculosis is set to worsen due to neglect during the lockdown.
According to the Global TB Report 2020, released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday, SA’s monthly TB notifications dropped below 50% by June — meaning that thousands of TB carriers could be transmitting the bug in their communities.
Authors noted that the pandemic threatens to reverse progress made to reduce the global burden of TB. The report warns that if action and investments are not made urgently, global targets for prevention and treatment will likely be missed.
The report has put SA in the top eight countries carrying the world’s TB burden and which account for two thirds of the global total cases. The countries are India (26%), Indonesia (8.5%), China (8.4%), the Philippines (6%), Pakistan (5.7%), Nigeria (4.4%), Bangladesh (3.6%) and SA (3.6%).
Meanwhile, a new report by a team of researchers from Harvard University and the University of California, which is due to be released next week at the 51st Union World Conference on Lung Health, is to show the economic and human cost of not ending TB by the UN target of 2030.
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