S. Africans with TB symptoms urged to get tested, treated

CAPE TOWN, March 15 (Xinhua) -- South African Deputy President David Mabuza on Friday urged South Africans with tuberculosis (TB) symptoms to get tested as the country is waging a war against TB.

"If you have symptoms, go and get tested, get treated and tell those in your environment that you have TB, and you are on treatment," Mabuza said as he launched a TB prevention campaign in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province to mark the World TB Month.

TB continues to be the No.1 killer of South Africans, especially in KwaZulu-Natal Province, which carries a third of South Africa's TB burden, and nearly a quarter of TB related mortality.

It is expected that 40 million TB patients will be found in the world by 2022, Mabuza said, adding that South Africa is expected to contribute about 1 million, and about 160,000 of them are not treated.

TB is killing thousands of South Africans every year, he said.

"In fact, most people who are HIV positive die from TB. Sixty percent of people with HIV also have TB -- because their immune systems are weakened by HIV infection," the deputy president said.

The South African government has adopted the 90-90-90 strategy by 2020 in the fight against TB.

These targets require the government to identify and treat at least 90 percent of people infected with TB in the general population, to ensure 90 percent of the TB cases in key populations being found and provided with appropriate treatment, and to secure a 90-percent treatment success rate among people identified as needing treatment.

Currently, the government is seeking to screen and test 14 million people for HIV and TB annually over the next three years.