Rustenburg to host National TB Day Commemoration

The North West Province is gearing itself to host the 2023 National World TB Day Commemorations in the Bojanala District on 24 March 2023 under the theme ‘Yes! 

We can end TB!’ Which aims to inspire hope and encourage high-level leadership, increased investments, faster uptake of new World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations, adoption of innovations, accelerated action and multi-sectoral collaboration to combat the TB epidemic. 

The World Health Organization’s Global TB Report of 2022 reported about 6.4 million TB notifications globally in 2021, an increase from 5.8 million reported in 2020. This increase in TB notifications followed a drop in 2020 due the impact of COVID 19. 

TB remains one of the leading causes of ill health and death globally with about 1.6  million TB related deaths having being reported in 2020, an increase from 1.5 million  reported in the previous year. The sicknes is fuelled by the HIV epidemic and Socioeconomic status. Adult men are at higher risk of developing TB disease compared to women.

Providing a localised perspective of the TB pandemic, MEC for Health in the North West Madoda Sambatha said South Africa is one of the 30 countries with the highest  infections in the world. This he said accounts for 87% of the global burden.

World Health Organization estimates that South Africa has three hundred and four thousand (304 000) TB cases of which a hundred and sixty three thousand (163 000) of those infected are also HIV positive. 

“We took a decision to host this year’s national commemoration in the Rustenburg Local Municipality as the area has a high number of TB cases due to the mining activities as well as the high number of overcrowded informal settlements which have exposed residents to several health hazards including TB,” MEC Sambatha said.

“The commemoration will showcase the partnership between the department, mining companies and traditional authorities in the area,” the MEC added. 

World Tuberculosis (TB) Day is commemorated annually on the 24th of March across the globe in recognition of the date, in 1882, when Dr Robert Koch announced his discovery of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacillus that causes tuberculosis. 

The United Nations agencies and global community began commemorating World TB  Day in 1982 in recognition of the increase in TB infections and the ravaging effects of the disease, to educate the public about the impact of TB and raise awareness on efforts to prevent the spread and treatment thereof.