More than 1500 delegates, including global health experts, policymakers and community leaders attended the 7th South African Tuberculosis (TB) Conference in Durban this week.

The TB conference, which started on Tuesday and ends today, hosted plenary discussions about medicines and ways to treat the airborne disease.  South Africa is said to have alarming TB infection rates, coupled with the largest HIV/AIDS prevalence globally.

Authorities and scientists took advantage of this conference to reinforce their commitment to the fight against TB. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), South Africa is among the top 30 countries with the biggest TB burden worldwide.

Despite TB being preventable and curable, this airborne disease is the second leading infectious killer following COVID-19 worldwide. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 alone in South Africa, the country recorded 328 000 new TB infections. It is said that of this, about 60% of patients also have HIV.

GUEST:  Priashni Pundit-Subrayen - Technical TB Director. The Aurum Institute