Tuberculosis Infections Declining, But Not Fast Enough Among Poor, Marginalised: UN Health Agency

A 25 year-old tuberculosis patient is treated at her home in Funafuti, the main island of Tuvalu in the South Pacific. Credit: UNDP Tuvalu/Aurélia Rusek.By External SourceUNITED NATIONS, Oct 17 2019 (IPS) A staggering 1.5 million people died from tuberculosis (TB) last year, the UN health agency said on Thursday, in an appeal for far greater funding and political support to eradicate the curable and preventable disease. Caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis, TB commonly causes persistent coughing, fatigue and weight loss. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and its latest Global TB Report, around 10 million people developed TB in 2018 and three million sufferers “are not getting the care they need”. Countries where people suffer most are China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and South Africa. Although the 2018 TB toll was marginally better than in 2017, the burden remains stubbornly high among poor and marginalized populations, particularly those with HIV Highlighting some good news, WHO also pointed out that Brazil, China, the Russian Federation and Zimbabwe – all of which have high TB burdens – achieved treatment coverage levels of more than 80 per cent, in 2018. Nonetheless, although the 2018 TB toll was marginally better than in 2017, the burden remains stubbornly high among poor and marginalized populations, particularly those with HIV. One of the reasons for this is the cost of TB care, with data showing ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Global Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs Source Type: news