Health Ministry to wipe out TB by 2050

KUALA LUMPUR: The Health Ministry is committed to eliminating tuberculosis (TB) by 2050 as envisaged under the Strategic Plan for TB Control 2011-2015.

Director-general of Health Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the TB detection rate had surpassed dengue, putting the disease at the top of the infectious disease list in the country.

"Controlling and eliminating TB is our main agenda as it has become the most common infectious disease with the highest number of deaths."

He said this at the launching of the Clinical Practice Guidelines on Management of Tuberculosis (3rd Edition) and World TB Day 2013 with the theme "Stop TB in my lifetime".

The World Health Organisation Global Tuberculosis Report 2012 reported that there were 8.7 million new TB cases, 1.4 million deaths because of the disease in 2011 and 500,000 new cases with 64,000 deaths among children around the globe.

In Malaysia last year, 22,710 cases were detected and treated, with an increase in case detection from 81 per cent in 2010 to 98 per cent last year.

It was reported that there were about 1,600 deaths last year because of this infection.

Selangor, Sarawak and Sabah recorded the highest number of cases.

Noor Hisham said the plan would strengthen the TB control programme with new approaches, such as providing TB drugs in private healthcare facilities for free.

"We want to ensure TB patients get access to treatment easier and nearer to their homes."

He added that other strategies, such as education and creating awareness of TB in health facilities, were ongoing.

He said the ministry was committed to controlling TB.

March 24 is celebrated every year as World TB Day.

It was when the germ causing TB was announced to the world by Dr Robert Koch in Berlin, Germany.

(source: www.nst.com.my)