Falling through the cracks: Increased vulnerability and limited social assistance for TB patients and their households during COVID-19 in Cape Town, South Africa.

ABSTRACT: Amid the COVID-19 crisis, Tuberculosis (TB) patients in South Africa, as elsewhere, faced increased vulnerability due to the consequences of the COVID-19 response such as loss of income, challenges to access diagnostic testing, healthcare services and TB medication. To mitigate the socio-economic impact of the pandemic, especially among the most vulnerable, the South African government expanded social assistance programmes by creating the Social Relief of Distress grant (SRDG), the first grant for unemployed adults in South Africa. Our study investigated how TB patients experienced the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing socio-economic fallout, how this affected their health and that of their household, income and coping mechanisms, and access to social assistance. We interviewed 15 TB patie

SUBMITTER: Vanleeuw L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10021457 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature