Tuberculosis and HIV in South Africa

South Africa has one of the most severe epidemics of tuberculosis in the world. TB incidence is at nearly 1%, and some 400,000 cases are reported per year.  Estimated TB prevalence doubled between 1990 and 2010, largely as a result of the HIV epidemic. At the same time South Africa bears a disproportionate share of the world’s epidemic of drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB), with more than 15,000 cases of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) alone reported in 2012. TB in all its forms is the country’s leading cause of death with 88000 tuberculosis related deaths in 2012. The diagnosis and treatment of DR-TB consumes a third of national TB budget even though < 10% of South African TB cases are drug resistant.

Controlling the TB epidemic is a high priority of the South African government.  Achieving that goal will require the kind of epidemiologic and economic data that HE²RO can provide. Through our operational research, we are generating information about the delivery, outcomes, and costs of both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant TB and its impact on patients and their households.