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As part of national TB recovery efforts, in addition to TB symptom screening of all clients, testing will now be offered to high risk groups, including close and household contacts of confirmed TB patients. City Health will be a critical partner in executing the plan within the Cape Metropole.

South Africa, and the Western Cape in particular, continues to grapple with a very high incidence of Tuberculosis.

Efforts to combat TB were impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

As part of a national drive to get the TB programme back on track, the National Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for screening and testing has been amended – effective June 2023.

In the past, household contacts and close contacts of patients diagnosed with TB were screened, but not tested, unless they exhibited symptoms.

Under the amended SOP, all households and close contacts will now be tested – irrespective of whether they are symptomatic.

Among the most common symptoms of TB are a cough, night sweats, weight loss and fever.

‘City Health alluded to these changes earlier this year – it is a mammoth undertaking and has involved months of intricate planning, training and capacitation between City Health and its provincial and national counterparts. The mission is clear and we need the public’s cooperation and participation, so that we can stem the tide of TB in our city, and our country. 

‘TB is infectious, and persons who have it are not always symptomatic. What makes things even more challenging, is that we find ourselves in the season of sniffles and chills, and it is not always possible to tell the difference between a cold and something more serious. So as we ramp up our efforts in the public health sector, we also appeal to the public to be wise to the signs and symptoms of TB, but more importantly, to get tested or seek advice if you suspect that you may have had contact with someone with TB,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Community Services and Health, Councillor Patricia Van der Ross.

Issued by City of Cape Town