The World Health Organization estimates that more than four million of the almost 10 million people who fell ill with tuberculosis in 2020 were not diagnosed. One obstacle to more people being diagnosed is that most current tests require people to produce sputum which children and some peop.
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With just a tap of a finger, some people with drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) can get in touch with a healthcare worker to get support over the phone. This support can both help people to start treatment more quickly and stay on treatment once they’ve started. It also reduces the need for people to visit healthcare facilities a benefit that has become even clearer than before during the Covid-19 pandemic, as many people avoided going to clinics for fear of contracting the virus.
One example of such a telephone support programme is a collaboration between Doctors without Borders (MSF), the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Department of Health. The programme was part of wider efforts in the metro aimed at adapting services to better meet the needs of people with DR-TB, or those at risk of contracting DR-TB.