Chairperson, according to the World Health Organisation about one quarter of the world's population is infected with tuberculosis bacteria. Only a small proportion of those infected will become sick with TB. People with weakened immune systems have a much greater risk of falling ill from TB. A person living with HIV is about 20 times more likely to develop active TB. South Africa ranks as one of the eight countries who have the highest levels of infection rates.
The World Health Organisation estimates that 128 000 people died of TB in South Africa in 2016. That means about 330 people died from this infection daily - "Iyabulala lento!" [This thing kills].
Recently we have been faced with added risks to the health of our population in the form of coronavirus. The potential of this virus being mixed with the high TB infection rates in South Africa could lead to an increased pandemic for South Africa in particular. Government must not wait for reports to plan for the deadly combination of the two but have measures in place to deal with it. South Africa cannot afford to sit back and relax as the infectious rates increase and as a
result, government's slow response in equipping hospitals is worrying. We must urgently allocate funds to fully equip and refurbish hospitals with strict timelines in order to get a handle on the deadly corona virus. [Time expired.]