South African Men More Likely to Die From TB Than Women - Report

Research to establish the various factors for the higher rates of Tuberculosis (TB) and death among men, compared to women in South Africa, has been conducted by Mmamapudi Kubjane, researcher, Wits Health Consortium at the University of the Witwatersrand and Leigh Johnson, associate professor at the University of Cape Town.

South Africa is ranked among the top six countries contributing to 60% of the global burden of TB. Their main finding was that men are 70% more likely to develop TB and die from the disease, compared to women. The researchers estimated that in 2019, 801 per 100,000 adult men developed TB while among women the rate was 478 per 100,000.

The research demonstrated, however, that dealing with socioeconomic conditions and other determinants of TB is also important. The research recommends that men's access to health facilities needs to be improved and there needs to be more effort to encourage men to seek medical care.