The presentation is by Lieve Vanleeuw, Tampere University.

The Covid-19 pandemic had a powerful impact on global health and economic wellbeing. The policy responses to the pandemic included hundreds of new emergency social protection responses implemented across the world. 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 healthcare services and anti-TB medication, increased stigma, and a loss of social support structures. 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 (SRD grant), the first grant for unemployed adults in South Africa. Our study explored 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.

Nordic Global Health Talks is a monthly webinar series about global health research at Nordic universities, hosted by the Nordic Network on Global Health. It is free and open to everyone interested in knowing more about Nordic global health research, education and collaborative projects. Read more and find the programme here: https://globalhealth.ku.dk/nordic-talks