RP winning fight vs tuberculosis

The Philippines and other countries in the Western Pacific are winning the battle against tuberculosis (TB), the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Dr. Shigeru Omi, WHO director for the Western Pacific, cited preliminary reports indicating that the global campaign against TB is right on track.

Omi said the region has achieved the 2005 targets of detecting 70 percent of TB cases and treating 85 percent of the diagnosed patients.

"The 2005 targets laid the groundwork.  Now that so many more cases are being detected and treated, we should see a real decline in TB transmission in the future," he said.  

"This major achievement can be attributed to the tireless efforts of health workers and national TB programs in countries across the region, as well as our international partners," he added.

In 1999, WHO declared a "regional crisis" on TB, which kills two million people annually.

China, which accounts for more than two-thirds of TB cases in the region, is at the forefront of the global battle against the disease.

At present, WHO is targeting to reduce the number of TB cases and deaths by half by 2010, compared with the 2000 figures. 

This is intended to help achieve the health-related United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

Omi said doubling the average annual rate of decline in TB prevalence and mortality from four to eight percent is needed in the next five years to meet the new target.

To achieve this, he said countries "must confront the daunting obstacles" caused by multi-drug-resistant TB and co-infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).