There has been a noted decline in the diagnosis of tuberculosis cases due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the province is committed to bringing an end to TB by 2035.
According to the Western Cape TB dashboard, since July last year, 4 156 people have died as a result of TB.
The Western Cape Department of Health confirmed that they noted a decline in patients seeking health care and a decrease in diagnosis.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases report on diagnosis since 2017, the numbers have decreased from 34 958 in 2019 to 28 448 in 2020.
The DA Western Cape health committee has since called for the establishment of an ad-hoc committee by the end of August.
The objective of the committee will be to advocate for finance to support TB interventions, legislation being reviewed, to hold stakeholders and institutions accountable in providing programmes and to bring more communication on the issue.
Figures have shown that towards the end of the fourth wave and nearing the end of the pandemic, 23 000 people have been diagnosed with TB for the first half of this year while 9% have died in the same period.
Wendy Kaizer-Philander, DA Western Cape spokesperson on health, said many meetings were under way to resolve what has been lost and to critically continue saving lives while TB remained one of the leading causes of death.
“Following a number of engagements with various stakeholders since February 2021, we are now poised to establish a TB Caucus in the Western Cape as an ad-hoc committee by the end of August,” she said.
“This will allow the legislature to further contribute towards the fight against TB in the province – an endemic that has affected almost 23 000 people in the first half of this year and has taken the lives of around 9% of those diagnosed in this period.”
“During a briefing by the provincial Department of Health and Wellness on Friday, it was revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic also negatively impacted the Western Cape’s ability to diagnose patients.
“Between the first and fourth wave of the pandemic, the rate of diagnosing new cases decreased by 76–83% per day in comparison to those in previous years. While these rates are now recovering, we need to continue tackling this disease to protect our residents.”
She said the Western Cape was fortunate to have a provincial government that had pioneered various initiatives, such as the multi-sectoral Provincial TB Emergency Response Plan and the Provincial TB dashboard.
She explained these were examples of a proactive government that innovates service delivery.
Western Cape Health Department spokesperson Mark van der Heever said they were working towards decreasing the number of people infected with TB and noted that people had not sought help during the pandemic.
“Covid-19 has impacted on the entire health system, including key programmes such as the TB programme. This has resulted in a marked decrease in clients seeking health care, as seen in a decrease in head counts screening rates during this period, which impacted on the decline of finding and diagnosing TB at health-care facilities,” he explained.
“The multi-sectoral plan is to implement urgent measures to prevent new TB infections and improve TB outcomes.”
He added the objective was to end TB by 2035 and to raise the sense of urgency and awareness of TB as the leading cause of death in the Western Cape province for more than a decade and to reduce the number of new TB infections.
He also said they aimed to increase the speed and number of those diagnosed, enabling early initiation of treatment and providing support to improve treatment completion rates.
Van der Heever explained that the diagnosis methods had evolved, making it possible to do it outside the walls of the hospital.
“Learning pilot sites are being identified to improve TB detections rates and interventions, like mobile X-rays and self-screening apps,” he said.
“Results from these sites will be used to further roll it out in the country and the province.”