Tuberculosis Under Apartheid in Cape Town, South Africa, 1950–1989
Social History of Medicine·
- DOI
- 10.1093/shm/hkag069
- PMID
- —
- PMCID
- —
- OpenAlex
- —
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The article highlights how segregation, poverty, and political structures can obstruct TB treatment, surveillance, and social-health interventions, even when curative medical technology is available.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The article examines why tuberculosis remained a major cause of death in Cape Town during apartheid despite the disease becoming curable in the post-war period, focusing on how apartheid conditions affected TB medicine and interventions.
Study design
This is a peer-reviewed historical journal article using Cape Town during 1950–1989 as a case study. It reviews recent historical literature, describes the development of TB facilities within the Cape health system, and analyzes aspects of apartheid affecting TB medicine.
Population and setting
The study concerns tuberculosis among populations in Cape Town, South Africa, under apartheid, with particular attention to global majority populations and the Cape health system.
Main findings
Apartheid-related racial assumptions, residential segregation, restrictions on labour mobility, poverty, and racial politics constrained appropriate social and clinical TB interventions. These conditions impeded disease surveillance, interfered with successful drug regimens, and limited responses involving nutrition, housing, and welfare.
Public-health relevance
The article highlights how segregation, poverty, and political structures can obstruct TB treatment, surveillance, and social-health interventions, even when curative medical technology is available.
Important limitations
The summary is limited to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata and requires the original paper for decision-grade interpretation.
GIDS interpretation
The article is relevant to discoverability and historical context for tuberculosis, South Africa, and surveillance topics. It should not be treated as confirmation of a live surveillance signal or a basis for clinical decision-making.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 5 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.