Half of 4.3 million TB cases
were not documented in India, Indonesia, Nigeria: WHO
The World
Health Organization (WHO) has said that almost half of the estimated 4.3 million
cases of tuberculosis cases worldwide were not documented in 2015 by the health
authorities in India, Indonesia and Nigeria.
Noting that there were estimated 10.4 million new TB cases worldwide in
2015, the global health body said that six countries including India accounted
for 60 per cent of these.
Out of these new cases, 5.9 million were men, 3.5 million were women
and 1 million were children. WHO said that people living with HIV accounted for
11 per cent of the total figure.
"Six countries accounted for 60 per cent of the new cases --
India, Indonesia, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and South Africa," it added.
The global body said, "In 2015, 6.1 million new TB cases were
notified to national authorities and reported to the WHO. This reflects a 4.3
million gap between incident and notified cases, with India, Indonesia and
Nigeria accounting for almost half of this gap".
2017 is the second year of the two-year "Unite to End TB"
campaign for World TB Day and this year the WHO will place a special focus on
uniting efforts to "Leave No One Behind", including actions to
address stigma, discrimination, marginalisation and overcome barriers to access
care.
It is also an opportunity to mobilise political and social commitment
for further progress in efforts to end TB, it said. The WHO said that about
4,80,000 people worldwide developed multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB)
in 2015. In addition, around 1,00,000 people developed resistance to rifampicin
(the most effective first-line medicine) and needed MDR-TB treatment.
"The MDR-TB burden largely falls on three countries -? China,
India, and the Russian Federation ?- which together account for nearly half of
the global cases," the WHO said.
MDR-TB is a form of TB caused by bacteria that do not respond to
isoniazid and rifampicin, the two most powerful, first-line anti-TB drugs. TB
is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide. In 2015, 10.4 million people
suffered from TB and 1.8 million died from the disease, including 0.4 million
of those with HIV.
"Over 95 per cent of TB deaths occur in low- and middle-income
countries," it said.
10.03.2017
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