ArticleAfrican journal of primary health care & family medicine2025
Access to tuberculosis care in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review.
Article in African journal of primary health care & family medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Effect of Tuberculosis and HIV on the Epidemiological, Clinical, Virological, and Immunological Trajectory of COVID-19: Protocol for a Prospective Case-Ascertained and Surveillance Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Routine Molecular Surveillance of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Translating Mutation Proxies into Clinical Governance Intelligence in Rural Eastern Cape.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTuberculosis (TB) remains a major public health issue in South Africa, a high-burden TB country. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exacerbated challenges in accessing essential TB services. This scoping review explores how access to TB care was impacted during the pandemic.
aimThis research aimed to review original studies on access to TB care in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic using a scoping review methodology.
methodA scoping review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. Five databases were systematically searched for original peer-reviewed research published between 2020 and 2022. Data were extracted and synthesised using the Penchansky and Thomas framework of healthcare access.
resultsThree studies met the inclusion criteria. The review identified significant disruptions in TB service delivery during the pandemic, including reduced diagnostic capacity, healthcare facility closures and economic barriers. Patients reported delayed diagnoses and increased stigma, while healthcare workers faced resource shortages and operational challenges.
conclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing barriers to TB care in South Africa, highlighting critical gaps in healthcare delivery. This review provides insights into the challenges faced and emphasises the need for resilient health systems to sustain TB care during future health crises. Contribution: This article highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB care access in South Africa, identifying key barriers across healthcare access dimensions and offering recommendations to improve TB care delivery during public health emergencies.
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Registered trials
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