WHO calls for new actions vs TB

MANILA, Philippines - The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for new actions and commitment to combat tuberculosis as nine million people have contracted the disease in 2013.

WHO said that while the fight to reverse the spread of TB is gaining momentum, many people are still affected by the disease. It said around 1.5 million people died of TB in 2013.

The agency has called for escalation of actions in the global fight against TB as part of the celebration of World TB Day on March 24.

“We must focus on maintaining approaches that have worked well, while incorporating new methods and technology to address evolving challenges,” WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific Shin Young-soo said.

“Let us reinvigorate our efforts to reach, treat and cure all patients suffering from TB, including drug-resistant forms. We need the concerted efforts of all sectors, not just health workers, to find and fight this disease wherever it hides,” he added.

One of the world’s leading infectious killers, TB is caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria that affect the lungs.

It is spread from person to person through the air. When people with TB cough, other people inhale germs and can become infected.

The disease mostly affects young adults in their productive years but all age groups are at risk. It is curable and preventable.

WHO estimates that some 37 million lives were saved through TB diagnosis and treatment between 2000 and 2013.

The Western Pacific region has made substantial progress and reached the TB-related Millennium Development Goals well in advance of the 2015 deadline.

Although the region’s population is increasing, TB cases continue to decline each year – from 2.1 million cases in 2000 to 1.6 million cases in 2013.

TB treatment has saved nine million lives in the region since 2000 and TB deaths and prevalence have been reduced by more than 50 percent since 1990.

But despite this success, the challenges of TB remain monumental.

Shin said that annually, an estimated 1.6 million people develop TB and 110,000 die from this curable illness in the region.

Around 71,000 multidrug-resistant TB cases occur annually in the region. In 2013, less than 10 percent of these cases were treated under quality-assured programs.

Last year, the World Health Assembly approved an ambitious 20-year (2016–2035) strategy to end the global TB epidemic.

The End TB Strategy envisions a world free of TB.

“The strategy targets a 90 percent reduction in patients suffering from TB and a 95 percent reduction in deaths from TB by 2035 – all while protecting families from catastrophic costs that push them into poverty,” Shin said.