Enhanced Tuberculosis Early Detection through Community Health Volunteers in South Africa's Informal Sector Areas: Impact on Diagnosis Rates and Treatment Success

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant public health concern in South Africa's informal sector areas, where access to healthcare services is limited. A mixed-methods approach including baseline surveys, follow-up interviews, and statistical analysis was employed to assess outcomes. Community health volunteers significantly increased TB diagnosis rates by 30% compared to traditional healthcare settings. Treatment success for identified cases exceeded 85% with no significant adverse effects observed. The implementation of community-based health volunteer programmes in informal sector areas demonstrates improved TB detection and treatment outcomes, warranting further expansion. Policy makers should prioritise the training and deployment of more community health volunteers to enhance TB surveillance and control efforts in underserved communities. TB Detection, Community Health Volunteers, Informal Sector Areas, Treatment Success Treatment effect was estimated with $\text{logit}(p_i)=\beta_0+\beta^\top X_i$, and uncertainty reported using confidence-interval based inference.