The World Health
Organisation (WHO), on Wednesday, called on countries and partners to unite to
end tuberculosis.
The WHO End TB Strategy is aiming at reducing deaths as a result of TB by 90 per cent and to cut new cases by 80 per cent between 2015 and 2030, and to ensure that no TB affected family faces catastrophic costs due to TB.
It says momentum is growing at country and community levels including in the 30 countries with the highest TB burden over 85 per cent of the global burden.
A number of countries are strengthening the strategic agendas of their TB programmes, by adopting newer tools, extending access to care and linking with other parts of government to reduce the financial costs borne by patients.
Since 2005 Russia reports that TB mortality rate has dropped more than 50 per cent, and TB notifications have dropped 20 per cent.
Brazil and Viet Nam, both with effective basic TB services, are investing in research efforts to drive down the TB burden.
Viet Nam has formed Viet Nam Integrated Centre for Tuberculosis and Respirology Research (VICTORY), a research partnership that is initiating a TB prevalence survey and developing tools to prioritise interventions for MDR-TB.
According to statistics from WHO, TB ranks alongside HIV/AIDS the world’s top infectious disease killer.
The countries are namely: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria.
The 10 countries with the highest incidence rates estimated number of new TB cases per 100,000, and at least 10,000 estimated new TB cases per year: Angola, Cambodia.
The call by the WHO came as
the UN enters the era of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to the statement,
ending TB by 2030 is a target of the SDGs and the goal of the WHO to end TB
Strategy.
WHO stresses that ending TB
will only be achieved with greater collaboration within and across governments,
and with partners from civil society, communities, researchers, the private
sector and development agencies.
Other countries are
partnering with researchers to speed development of diagnostic tests, drugs and
vaccines, and to improve delivery.
The statement says for
example, India which is home to more people ill with TB and multidrug resistant
TB than any other country, has committed to achieving universal access to TB
care with its campaign for a TB-Free India.
WHO says in working towards
universal health coverage, South Africa has greatly expanded access to, a WHO
recommended rapid molecular test for TB and drug-resistant TB.
South Africa has the
largest number of people living with HIV who are receiving TB preventive
treatment in the world.
In Thailand, where a large
percentage of the population has access to health services at modest cost,
efforts are focusing on ensuring that all residents including migrants have
access to TB treatment.
In the Russian Federation,
a high-level working group across government institutions has strengthened TB
policies over the last 15 years.
WHO will work with the
Ministry of Health in 2016 to assess these data and help assess the factors
leading to such a decline.
Brazil has formed a
national network of TB researchers, REDE-TB, which is working on basic science,
clinical trials, and operational research priorities.
WHO stressed that in spite
of these advances, formidable challenges remain including fragile health
systems, human resource and financial constraints, and the serious co-epidemics
with HIV, diabetes, and tobacco use.
MDR-TB is another critical
challenge, it notes, adding that urgent and effective action to address
antimicrobial resistance is key to ending TB by 2030 as well as increased
investments, as the global tuberculosis response remains underfunded for both
implementation and research.
In 2014, 9.6 million people
fell ill with TB and 1.5 million died from the disease, including 380,000 among
people living with HIV.
More than 95 per cent of TB
deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and TB is among the top 5
causes of death for women aged 15 to 44. In 2014, an estimated 1 million
children became ill with TB and 140 000 children died.
TB is a leading killer of
HIV-positive people and in 2014, ratio 1 to3 HIV deaths was due to it.
The TB death rate dropped
by 47% between 1990 and 2015 and an estimated 43 million lives were saved
through TB diagnosis and treatment between 2,000 and 2014.
WHO defines the 30 highest
TB burden countries as; 20 countries with the highest absolute burden of
disease, estimated number of new TB cases per year.
Others are Pakistan, Papua
New Guinea, Philippines, Russian Federation, South Africa, Thailand, the United
Republic of Tanzania, and Viet Nam.
Others are Central African
Republic, Congo, Lesotho, Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
(PANA/NAN)