TB killed more than 56,000 people in South Africa in 2021 according to the World Health Organisation. In the same year, the WHO estimated that there were over 304,000 new TB infections. South Africa is one of the highest-burden countries in the world. The impact of TB -- often forgotten -- on individuals, families and the country's health system and its economy is significant and requires increased focus.

On 20 June, 2023, the day before the start of the South African Aids conference, the national Department of Health hosted a TB Indaba attended by the Minister of Health, the Director General for Health, a number of MECs for Health, a few members of the national assembly, senior officials of the national and provincial Departments of Health and representatives of civil society, the private sector and non-governmental organisations.

The objectives of the meeting were to assess progress in the implementation of the TB recovery plan and to explore areas in which the programme could be strengthened.

TB is a major contributor to the burden of disease in South Africa with an estimated 304,000 new infections annually in 2021 according to the World Health Organization's Global Tuberculosis Report. In addition, it is estimated that there were 56,000 deaths from TB. South Africa is one of eight countries that are considered high-burden countries globally.

While the country has made some progress in decreasing the burden of disease and is an early adopter of new diagnostics (e.g. GeneXpert) and new drugs (e.g. Bedaquiline), the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed back progress. In 2020 compared to 2019 there were 26% fewer GeneXpert...