By: Aphelele Buqwana The TB Accountability Consortium (TBAC) once again hosted its yearly national convening. This year, under the theme “Reigniting the Response: Reclaiming TB in the Global Health Storm,” the convening brought together activists, government representatives, partners and health experts to reflect on the year that was, unpack the challenges shaping the country’s TB response and recognise the resilience and leadership that continue to drive the work forward in the TB community. See some moments from the convening in the pictures below.
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By: Aphelele Buqwana South Africa’s broader economic pressures are increasingly affecting the country’s TB response, with rising costs making it harder for clinics to maintain essential basic services. Although the health budget increases each year, rising costs for medicines, laboratory services and salaries are outpacing those increases. As a result, provinces have less to spend, leaving clinics with fewer resources for TB testing, treatment and community outreach services. This is according to Rashaad Amra, a researcher of the Public Economy Project at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, during the two-day SANAC Civil Society Forum (SANAC CSF) engagement hosted by the TB Accountability Consortium (TBAC). The engagement, which looked at the programmatic and financial outlook […]
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By: Aphelele Buqwana The TB Accountability Consortium (TBAC) hosted a two-day SANAC Civil Society Forum engagement that brought together civil society members, professionals and health experts to unpack the programmatic and financial outlook of South Africa’s TB response. The discussions covered the National Strategic Plan’s key pillars, health financing issues, the Department of Health’s 1.1-million HIV testing campaign and the End TB Campaign. See some moments from the engagement in the pictures below.
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By: Aphelele Buqwana Men in South Africa remain disproportionately burdened by tuberculosis (TB), with studies showing that they are 70% more likely to develop TB and die from it compared to women. This alarming reality took center stage of the conversation at the Western Cape TB Summit, where community members and health experts raised concerns that men are still not being adequately reached, informed or supported in the province’s fight against TB. According to the newly launched End TB Campaign public facing dashboard by the National Department of Health, more than 4 000 men aged between 35–44 in the Western […]
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By: Aphelele Buqwana The country has taken a major step forward in the fight to end tuberculosis (TB) with the launch of the End TB Campaign public-facing dashboard, a digital platform that tracks TB testing data in near real-time across the country. The dashboard is a collaborative effort by the National Department of Health (NDoH), in partnership with the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) as part of the End TB Campaign. It provides transparent and accessible data to the public. The dashboard comes after concerned effort by TBAC partners supported the SANAC […]
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By: Aphelele Buqwana Clinics, medication and health workers are all essential part of South Africa’s fight against TB. But one often-overlooked element is the lived experiences of patients and the support they receive from their communities. It is in these personal and community spaces where TB champions are stepping in, using their own TB experiences to support patients, tackle stigma and strengthen the link between clinics and the communities they serve. This month we’ve looked at champions in KwaZulu-Natal and Northern Cape who are navigating stigmas associated with TB to help others stay on treatment and feel supported […]
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