Asia, Africa worst affected by tuberculosis--WHO

In a report titled ‘Multidrug and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: 2010 Global Report on Surveillance and Response’ WHO has stated that the Asian region is the worst affected as more than 50 percent cases occurred in India and China.

Africa followed next with 69,000 cases of tuberculosis.

Improper treatment of TB highlighted
WHO added that out of all the patients infected with this disease, 60 percent have been cured. But out of the total patients diagnosed, only seven percent were patients with MDR-TB, tuberculosis that is extensively drug-resistant.

Without a proper coordinated program, tuberculosis could affect approximately 1 billion more people by 2020.

There are many regions in the world where one in four people with TB is infected with a disease that is difficult to be treated.

MDR-TB is usually the result of improper use of antibiotics in chemotherapy of drug-susceptible TB patients.

The improper use means that proper treatment regimens are not followed by healthcare professionals or that health workers fail to ensure that patients complete the whole course of treatment.

This all points to the need for a proper tuberculosis program which ensures that TB patients are diagnosed on time, and are effectively treated with the treatment period shorter than the current two years.

Without a proper coordinated program, tuberculosis could affect approximately 1 billion more people by 2020.

Positive signs
Though the various tuberculosis programs have failed to curb the disease completely, there are many areas that have achieved a remarkable decline in TB cases.

Countries like Estonia and Latvia, have witnessed a sharp drop in the number of MDR-TB cases.

Orel and Tomsk, the two areas in the Russian Federation, have also reported a drop in MDR-TB cases over the last five years.

Further, WHO has already launched a tuberculosis program to increase access to effective treatment in approximately 30 countries worst affected with the disease. The program aims at reducing TB deaths by nearly 50 percent by 2015.

TB—the deadly contagious disease
Tuberculosis, which was declared a global health emergency in 1993, is a deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria.

The disease is airborne, mainly affects the lungs, and reduces a person’s immunity against diseases such as HIV, advancing age, or some medical conditions.

Tuberculosis is highly contagious and spreads when people cough, sneeze, or spit. Its symptoms include chronic cough with blood-tinged sputum, weight loss, and fever.

If treated carefully and on time, the disease is curable. But if the drugs are misused, there are chances that a person can develop multidrug resistant tuberculosis, which takes a long time to be treated, is expensive, and can lead to side effects.