Durban Hosts 8th SA TB Conference: A United Front Against Tuberculosis

The Department of Health has announced that the conference will take place at the International Convention Centre in KwaZulu-Natal from Tuesday to Friday.

In a significant stride towards eradicating Tuberculosis (TB), Durban welcomes delegates to the 8th SA TB Conference. This pivotal event serves as a platform to evaluate progress against the ambitious goals set for 2025 by the United Nations High-Level Meeting and the World Health Organisation's End TB Strategy, aiming for a TB-free world by 2030.

The Department of Health has announced that the conference will take place at the International Convention Centre in KwaZulu-Natal from Tuesday to Friday. A highlight of the event will be the keynote address by Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Sibongiseni Dhlomo, scheduled for Tuesday at 3pm.

TB remains a formidable adversary, particularly in South Africa, which is among the 30 countries most burdened by the disease, accounting for 87% of new cases globally. The disease is responsible for approximately 54,000 deaths each year in the nation, translating to about 148 lives lost daily.

Despite these daunting statistics, the South African government has made commendable progress in ensuring equitable access to state-of-the-art diagnosis, treatment, and preventive measures for TB patients. Innovations such as the bedaquiline-pretomanid-linezolid-levofloxacin (BPaL-L) program have been introduced, alongside targeted universal TB testing for high-risk groups, SMS notifications for test results, and AI-powered digital chest X-rays to enhance screening and diagnosis.

The biannual four-day conference aims to invigorate the TB community by fostering direct engagement among a diverse group of stakeholders, including policymakers, academics, researchers, government officials, and civil society members.

Under the rallying cry "Accelerating progress to end TB," the conference underscores the collective responsibility to avert deaths from this preventable and treatable disease. The agenda features sessions on a wide array of topics, from TB vaccines and mining-related infections to innovative approaches for ending TB, stigma measurement, and treatment efficacy in children.

Discussions will also extend to examining the impact of community-based TB services for migrant workers in Mozambique. In tandem, the Department of Health, in collaboration with entities like the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), is implementing the national TB Recovery Plan to mitigate setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic and reinforce efforts to meet the National Strategic Plan and global TB eradication targets. 2of5