Experts call for better screening and treatment of TB during pregnancy

Busisiwe Beko, from Khayelitsha in the Western Cape, was diagnosed with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) while she was pregnant. She remembers it as a very difficult period in her life.

“The time that I was diagnosed with TB was the time that I found out I had HIV. In that period, it was really a struggle for me, because I also found out I was pregnant. It was so unfortunate that I couldn’t produce sputum so that I could be tested for TB. That was the first challenge for me,” says Beko, who now works for Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Beko shared her experience during a session on maternal TB at the recent Union World Conference on Lung Health.

Shortly after delivery, she was told her baby had also contracted DR-TB.

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By Tiyese Jeranji

Published: Dec. 6, 2022, 5 p.m.

Last updated: Dec. 9, 2022, 1:02 a.m.

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