South Africa: Emerging biosensor technology for rapid TB diagnosis

Tuberculosis remains a major public health problem. Approximately 1.7 billion people worldwide are infected with TB, with 8 million new cases and 3 million deaths per year. It is estimated that 35 million people will have died of TB by the year 2020. In 2004, it was estimated that more than 4% of the world’s infected people living with active TB were in South Africa. During this period, South Africa accounted for about 2% of the world’s new TB cases and approximately 3% of the total TB deaths.