By: Aphelele Buqwana In 2024, South Africa’s mining sector was commended for making inroads to address TB, beating a 10-year target, cutting its incidence rate nearly three-fold. But despite these significant reductions, research looking at trends in the mining sector shows that certain mining sectors are still more of a problem than others. The paper, published by a team of researchers from national institute of occupational health along with minerals council in SA, the National Department of Health and the university of British Columbia in Canada, analysed trends in the sector over seven years between 2015 and 2022 and found […]
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The TB Accountability Consortium (TBAC) recently hosted its inaugural workshop for civil society groups. The workshop brought together TB champions from across the country, mobilising them to drive progress towards ending tuberculosis. The session focused on the updated TB Recovery Plan Version 4.0, equipping community leaders with the knowledge to implement the plan and helping them understand their role in the TB advocacy ecosystem. The workshop also highlighted the importance of TB training for healthcare professionals and supportive policy, with TB champions emphasising the need for childfriendly TB medication and importance of scaling up preventive therapy, both of which are […]
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By: Aphelele Buqwana The International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung disease has released a new report outlining updated evidence on TB Preventive Therapy with recommendations for how to protect close contacts of a person with drug-resistant TB. TB Preventive Therapy (TPT) is a course of medication given to people at risk of acquiring TB to protect them from getting the disease. In South Africa, the uptake of TPT remains low. This is despite it being an evidence-based intervention to treat latent TB infection and prevent it from progressing to active TB. To unpack the report in the context of South Africa, TBAC […]
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By: Aphelele Buqwana The TB Accountability Consortium’s newest partner, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) hopes to focus on reducing TB stigma in South Africa as part of its obligation in the consortium. For AHF, the partnership with TBAC signifies an important step in strengthening integrated responses to both TB and HIV, particularly in communities burdened by both diseases. AHF is a global non-profit organisation providing advanced HIV prevention services, testing and healthcare to 2 million people in over 45 countries. In South Africa, AHF has been involved in community-led HIV treatment and prevention programmes for many years, with initiatives that […]
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One of the biggest challenges to reduce South Africa’s TB burden is people’s ability to complete their treatment. But, in two provinces, the country’s TB ambassadors are working to fix this. The TBAC team reached out to dedicated TB champions in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape to discuss the challenges in the provinces and how they mobilise people and help link them to care. Provincial TB champions raised concerns about patients being lost-to follow up and how cross-border and inter-districts movements affects treatment completion. They share their insights on the realities on the ground and the work being done […]
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Civil society organisations are sounding the alarm over South Africa’s underfunded public health system, warning that continued neglect is threatening years of progress in reducing TB cases and improving rural healthcare. In presentations to the Standing Committee on Appropriations, the TB Accountability Consortium (TBAC) and the Rural Health Advocacy Project (RHAP) called for urgent political will, better planning, and targeted investment in vulnerable communities. RHAP highlighted that despite the government’s planned R20 billion increase to the health budget, rural communities would continue to face dire health outcomes. Researcher and policy officer Celene Coleman noted that RHAP welcomed the hiring […]
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