The start of 2017 saw concern over a sharp increase in the rise of drug-resistant TB in South Africa. TB is killing millions each year. Last week, Médecins Sans Frontières published promising early data on the use of two new TB drugs, delamanid and bedaquiline, among patients living with drug-resistant TB in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. But availability remains the biggest concern.

South Africa ranks third of the 22 countries with a high incidence of TB. Patients with HIV are a whopping 26 times more likely to contract TB, yet there are significant challenges in diagnosing the disease in people with HIV. Funding, also, is a significant challenge. But there are signs that the tide is starting to turn. Late in July, the launch of a R1.2-billion Africa Health Research Institute in KwaZulu-Natal was announced, potentially making research data from the largest population study in the country available to tackle these two dreaded diseases. MARELISE VAN DER MERWE found out more.