South Africa’s First National TB Prevalence Survey (findings of which were published earlier this year) found that in 2018, the country’s tuberculosis burden was substantially higher than previously thought. 

Treatment of drug-resistant forms of tuberculosis (DR-TB) in South Africa has been transformed over the last decade. Most people with DR-TB no longer have to take daily injections and treatment is often completed in nine months, compared to 18 to 24 months in the past. Maybe most importantly, fewer people are dying of DR-TB and fewer people are suffering hearing loss, a common side effect of injections used in the past.

People with COVID-19 and people with tuberculosis (TB) can experience similar symptoms such as coughing and breathing difficulties as both diseases affect the lungs. Exactly how these diseases affect the lungs, however, differs.