VOA News, PlusNews examine tuberculosis in South Africa

Jun 21 2012

Several articles published on Tuesday examine tuberculosis (TB) in South Africa. "According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the country has the highest rate of new TB cases annually," VOA News writes, adding, "Thousands of people in South Africa continue to be infected by a disease that's been virtually eradicated in the developed world." The news service discusses TB among children in the country and notes, "The WHO says every year at least 500,000 babies and children become infected with TB worldwide and an estimated 70,000 die of it -- many in South Africa, India and China" (Taylor, 6/19).

"South Africa is ranked at 17 among the 22 countries that account for 80 percent of all TB cases globally, according to the World Health Organization (WHO)," PlusNews writes in an article examining TB in the country's prisons. TB "rates in South Africa's prisons could be cut by up to 94 percent if the country reduced overcrowded conditions in cells and implemented active TB case finding, according to research presented at the recent South African TB Conference," the news service notes (6/19). In a separate article, PlusNews reports on the country's efforts to "move towards nurse-initiated treatment for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in the next five years," noting "a program in KwaZulu-Natal province, which has a high HIV/TB burden, is already training nurses to manage MDR-TB patients" (6/19).