Illustrative photo (Photo: Ha Noi Moi) Hanoi (VNA) – A meeting was held at the Hanoi Lung Hospital on March 24 in response to World Tuberculosis Day.
The event aims to call on the public to join in activities to prevent tuberculosis (TB) and lung disease.
Director of the hospital Pham Huu Thuong said Hanoi is stepping up anti-TB programmes across the city and will ensure sufficient medicines and health equipment.
In addition to raising public awareness of TB prevention, the capital will also enhance local access to medical check-up and treatment, especially for poor people and TB and HIV patients.
Health authorities will employ new hi-tech measures to detect and treat TB patients.
In 2015, Hanoi Lung Hospital treated 2,650 TB patients. From December 2015, the hospital piloted treatment for 30 patients suffering from multi drug-resistance (XDR) TB bacteria. Their health status is developing well, Thuong said.
The hospital also focused on improving infrastructure to prevent bacterial contamination, he added.
Vietnam is striving to reduce the rate of tuberculosis (TB) patients to 131 cases/100,000 people and the fatality rate to lower than 10/100,000 people by 2020, according to the National Tuberculosis Programme.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said TB is the second leading infectious cause of death while XDR is present in almost all countries.
The symptoms of active lung TB are coughing, sometimes with sputum or blood, chest pains, weakness, weight loss, fever and night sweats. Tuberculosis is treatable with a six-month course of antibiotics.-VNA
